Experimental, risk-taking engineering education environment
Project testing and much more takes place in the Engineering Ideas Clinic®, a two-storey focal point of the new Engineering 7 building designed for professors from different engineering disciplines to collectively teach theoretical concepts to students through experimental, hands-on learning.
Bedi, director of the Engineering Ideas Clinic®, says the space provides a safe environment for risk taking, which is essential for all students but particularly those in first year. He points out that most first-year students graduate from high school with marks in the mid-to-high 90s and are accustomed to succeeding at almost everything. What they’re not accustomed to is failure.
Learning from a project that doesn’t work out is important for career growth since engineers are hired to deal with a wide variety of problems that no usual curriculum prepares them to successfully solve, Bedi explains.
“At the end of the program, we want students to reflect on what they did and what they would do differently next time around,” he says.