Educating engineers who can contribute to finding solutions to the vast challenges of today and tomorrow is a major obligation for engineering education. As the challenges the world faces are getting increasingly complex and potentially represent a menace for the future of mankind, the call for solutions that involve technology grows. The engineers who can answer that call need to be able to think creatively to frame the problems in a way that can lead to sustainable solutions. They need to be able to work in interdisciplinary teams across the borders of technical and social sciences and humanities. And they should be able to work innovatively with solutions that meet the needs of society - whether as entrepreneurs within existing organisations, or as entrepreneurs establishing new companies.
Engineering education has always been the breeding ground for creative, innovative and entrepreneurial engineers. However, there is a larger need than ever to make a systematic effort to support all engineering students in developing the skills and competencies needed to help solving world’s problems. They should all be trained and supported in ways that foster creativity, critical thinking, ability to work with open-ended problems, and exploit the potentials of inter-disciplinary teamwork etc.
Development of creative, innovative and entrepreneurial competencies is a goal for engineering education. However, it is also a means to improve engineering education. Programmes and courses where students work with real life challenges create a strong framework for the students’ acquisition of core disciplinary knowledge, integrated with the learning of personal, interpersonal, professional and innovative skills.