31.7.2012

Turku University of Applied Sciences hosts international conference July 30 to August 3, 2012

Developing engineering education to meet global challenges

Turku University of Applied Sciences together with the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University is currently hosting ICEE 2012 (International Conference on Engineering Education). The conference participants are here in Turku to consider the development of engineering education and its future challenges.

Around 200 educators and education developers from nearly 40 countries are in town for the conference. The conference will feature lectures from well-known speakers such as Professors Markku Mattila and Yrjö Neuvo.

The intention is to consider, amongst other things, how the engineers could make engineering education better meet the global challenges the world will face in the future. 

Engineering Education and a global development programme

The ICEE event includes workshops in which the participants discuss the various aspects of engineering education. For example, the CDIO (Conceive-Design-Operate-Implement) workshop is aimed at making a better fit between engineers’ theoretical knowledge and their practical skills.

– CDIO is an international engineering education development initiative, says Janne Roslöf of Turku University of Applied Sciences, who is in charge of the organising committee.

The development programme was launched in the United States at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the late 1990s. Its central idea is to bring students closer to a work-life orientation by means of active teaching methods and learning by doing processes. Turku University of Applied Sciences has been a member of this network since 2007, so experience in the development of education that uses the CDIO method has already began to accumulate.

The ICEE 2012 conference is one of the main events of the international iNEER network’s year. The conference theme emphasises the content of engineering education and its realisation methods as part of the importance of new innovation and enterprise creation.

More detailed information on the conference week and programme can be found at

• www.icee2012.fi