Building Creativity in Engineering Education

The competitive work environment which most engineering businesses now face is demanding a range of non-technical skills from our graduates, including communication and teamwork skills, lifelong learning skills etc. How are we developing those skills? It is suggested that any such development currently happens more by chance than by good management. Active student learning methodologies are required if these skills are to be acquired. In these student-oriented environments, non-technical skills are naturally integrated with the learning of technical skiffs. Some educators have been suggesting such a change for at least two decades. A natural extension of this concept is to adopt the same approach to work in university departments that companies are expecting from their people. This paper draws on literature from education and management to show how we can use this knowledge to build more people-oriented departments that are both more productive and more enjoyable for all their members students, non-academic and academic staff This should make our departments more creative and responsive to change essential attributes for the coming century.