IUSE/PFE:RED Planning: Redbirds Exploring Global Grand challenges In Engineering

About This Grant

This project is a planning project at Illinois State University (ISU) to define strategies for the development of innovative undergraduate programs in the new College of Engineering. The current project will create a framework to attract and retain students and to prepare all students to tackle the complex societal problems identified by the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering, and use that framework to develop a RED Track 2 proposal. Ultimately, the project will address critical national needs for a well-prepared STEM workforce. Rather than replicating traditional engineering programs, the project will explore new approaches that foster a strong sense of engineering purpose among undergraduate engineering students, particularly during the crucial second and third years. The college will incorporate the Grand Challenges for Engineering as a unifying theme across curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular experiences. By planning a program that connects technical skills with real-world challenges, and by designing mentoring systems that maintain student engagement across program years, the project will lay the groundwork for long-term engineering education reform. During this planning project, the project team will draw on evidence-based strategies and lessons learned from previous NSF-supported efforts to foster cultural change at the institutional level. The broader impact of this work lies in its potential to produce engineering graduates who are more aware of global societal challenges, and to reshape how future engineers are educated—not only at Illinois State University, but at other institutions seeking to build more globally aware and challenge-driven engineering programs. Through planning and collaboration, the project will build the foundation for an undergraduate engineering program designed to prepare graduates who are ready to address the challenges that face society and affect the lives of all people. This planning project will define strategies for establishing college-wide programmatic infrastructure and a culture that supports student success within the newly created College of Engineering at Illinois State University. The goals of the planning project are: (1) develop detailed strategies for creating a college environment that is focused on welcoming all students and helping them develop a professional engineering identity; (2) create a specific plan for a near-peer mentoring program with an emphasis on 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students; and (3) define strategies to incorporate a college-wide focus on the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges, with connections to core second and third year undergraduate engineering courses and a pathway for students to achieve certification as a Grand Challenge Scholar upon graduation. The Curricular, Co-curricular, and Extra-curricular working groups will lead these efforts, developing plans for programmatic infrastructure in their respective areas. The project will analyze relevant literature, undertake structured planning, collaborate with organizations inside and outside the university, hold site visits to peer institutions, and consult regularly with an external advisor experienced in engineering education projects and institutional change. Collaboration with partners such as the ISU Office of Civic Engagement and faculty from the ISU College of Education will support the development of learning experiences that connect engineering content to real-world problems. Expected outcomes include a comprehensive plan to develop a supportive yet challenge-focused curriculum, a structured mentoring program, a pathway for participation in the Grand Challenge Scholars Program, and a well-developed Track 2 RED proposal organized around the concept of using second- and third-year content undergraduate courses to build a college environment that supports students' professional engineering identity development and scaffolds the sociotechnical skills that underlie the NAE Grand Challenges. The planning process and resulting framework will provide a model that other institutions may use to enhance student engagement and preparedness to address complex societal challenges through undergraduate engineering education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.