Take Engineering for Social and Environmental Responsibility this Fall: meet a grad req and explore responsible engineering

What does it mean to be a responsible engineer in a rapidly changing world?

There is no code of ethics, ethical framework, or algorithm that can tell us what is "responsible" in every situation, especially in an interconnected, technologically powerful, and uncertain world.

EDNS 315: Engineering for Social & Environmental Responsibility is about developing the character, values, and ways of thinking needed when the right answer isn't obvious, or may require courage and conviction. We'll cultivate critical thinking, creativity, adaptability, empathy, and systems thinking—capacities that can help us design technologies that better serve people and planet, while becoming increasingly valuable as technology transforms engineering and work.

Through case studies focused on Gen Z and future generations, we'll begin with smartphones and social media and the unintended consequences of their design, then ask what lessons we can carry forward as more powerful technologies emerge. We'll explore AI/AGI, quantum, biotech, nanotech, and robotics, alongside planetary boundaries, regenerative development, biomimicry, climate action, and more.

Leading experts and researchers will bring many of these topics directly into the classroom.

The goal isn't to teach you a formula for responsible engineering. It's to help you become the kind of engineer and person who can make thoughtful, creative, responsible choices when no formula exists, all in hopes of engineering a better world.