Reconnecting Engineering with the Social and Political Sphere

Abstract

If technologies are going to be part of the solution to major social problems, we need engineers who are not simply “cogs in the wheel,” but rather active agents with a broad perspective. While many undergraduate engineering programs train students to narrow their vision rather than expand it, it is possible to create opportunities to reverse this trend. This chapter outlines two interventions designed to reconnect engineers with the social and political contexts they work in and which they would like to improve.