KEENzine5

more than time-value-of-money calculations. An understanding of economic value theory should be integral to engineering and part of classroom discussions. 2 Finally, the aim of KEEN is to create graduates who are responsible citizens of society. While free-markets may provide unbridled opportunity, a graduate’s understanding of economic value must be combined with societal and personal value. Educational tools can highlight societal value. Podcasts like those from “50 Things That Made the Modern Economy” by Tim Harford provide a balanced view of personal, economic, and societal value. Episode #44 is about the plumbing S-bend, a terrific example of a value with positive externality. 4 Videos similar to those used in the Innovative Curriculum with Entrepreneurial Mindset Workshops (ICE) help bolster the need for societal value when there are strong economic forces. 5 The visuals within “Strategy and Society: The Link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility”help frame discussions of the value chain that includes a societal component. 6 “Senior Value Creation” instead of “Senior Design”? Are engineers first designers or value creators? In many engineering education programs, there is a conspicuous absence of serious discussion about value. As educators, we too often miss the opportunity to distinguish value creation as the pinnacle of engineering. The void is filled by design. After all, a Senior Design experience serves as the conclusion of a program’s curriculum, and signals to students and faculty alike that design is the final goal. Design is the unwitting target of four years of study. Compare that with the reality in most engineering careers. The majority of engineers are not regularly performing design, as graduates will acknowledge. But importantly, all engineers have the ability to create value through their work. Enter The Disobedient Engineer KEEN faculty and institutions are doing things differently. They focus on the 3C’s. Through their EML-based educational experiences, they develop a graduate’s ability to identify and act upon opportunity, and aim for impact through work that has significance and scale. Across the country, faculty are developing students’ abilities to create and assess a value proposition. Value propositions, designs, analyses, and processes are all useful tools. A disobedient engineer recognizes that success is determined by either the harmony or dissonance of all the above elements, but focuses on value first. A tradi- tional course, a peer or profes- sor’s approval, team harmony, or demonstrations of technical prowess are secondary. They often pursue the road not taken. A Disobedient Engineer’s Story It was the snowy part of a Michigan winter —which is nearly all of it. BenWagner was an electrical engineering student and was disillusioned with both engineering and higher education. He had disappeared from his program of study for more than a year, but now showed up at his advisor’s office, seated outside the door. An athletic, bearded, outdoorsy young man wearing layers of flannel shirts under a canvas jacket, he was interested in talking about his future. Ben is a determined individual. One academic year, he had decided to give up fossil fuel and committed to bicycling only. When you live 10 miles from campus in a Michigan winter, that commute is a serious commitment. He was a good student. But a year before this reappearance on campus, he had put his bicycle in his truck and headed to California. There, he biked long distances, taking the hiatus to re-imagine his career and life goals. He had returned to snowy Michigan and was determined to complete his program of study. He told his advisor, “Engineering helps produce a lot of stuff. And for the most part, it’s stuff we don’t really need. But I know I want to finish my degree.” He looked at the advisor for answers. Ben’s advisor, a faculty member, had just participated in an on- campus KEEN workshop that focused on developing an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students. The workshop’s focus on creating value influenced his advice — and prompted him to ask a question he’d never asked students. “Ben, forget about electrical engineering. How do you want to create value for others?” It didn’t take long for Ben to describe his interest in hydroponic and organic farming. He was passionate about the idea of sustainability. The first reaction of the advisor was concern. Where was the focus on electrical engineering? But the second reaction was to contact a chemistry colleague, sending Ben to see her. She was working on the chemistry associated with aerobic digestion, part of the process used to convert waste to usable methane fuels. Ben met with her, and it was a perfect pairing. To better complete her work, she needed new sensors, data acquisition systems, and controls. These were skills that Ben either had, or was determined to develop. His motivation peaked. A surprising sequence of events followed that includes international travel and royalty. The story was shared at the TEDxWichitaStateUniversity event. 7 You can find the details there. In short, because of a focus on creating value, Ben connected to a passion and to people that he might not have, if not for KEEN. A focus on value creates adventures. Of course, Ben graduated. He nowworks with energy systems. But regardless of his degrees, the positions he’s held or his own pursuits, Ben’s C.V. is all about creating value. And that’s any engineers most important credential. 1. Rokeach, Milton, “Understanding human values.” Simon and Schuster, 2008. 2. Thaler, Richard H., “Misbehaving: The making of behavioral economics.” W.W. Norton & Company, 2015. 3. Chadderton, Ronald A., “Purposeful engineering economics.” Springer, 2015. 4. BBC, T. Harford, “S-Bend.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csv3gp#play 5. PBS, “What actually happens to your recycled electronics?” http://www.pbs.org/ video/what-actually-happens-to-your-recycled-electronics-1470096788/ 6. Kramer, Mark R., and Michael E. Porter, “Strategy & society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility.” Harvard business review 84.12 (2006): 78-92. 7. Melton, D., “The habit of making value.” TEDxWichitaStateUniversity. https://youtu.be/y-e0lQ-dYmQ Ben Wagner 35