Triple E: European Engineering Education at SEFI24

The SEFI2024 conference in Switzerland was a great success, with a big contingent from the University of Sheffield. Next year it could be you presenting your educational experiences and expertise, but what was it all about?  

Conferences are an essential means of meeting peers and sharing ideas. For engineering education the European Society for Engineering Education, or SEFI*, is the largest network of engineering educators in Europe and preeminent in leading educational developments for engineering in higher education. The SEFI2024 conference held at EPFL in Lausanne was the main event for sharing best practice and new ideas, and a great opportunity to meet future collaborators.

Many of the Sheffield team; is this you in the future?

Thanks to the support of the Centre for Engineering Education, Engineering at Sheffield was well represented by a diverse range of people who support and deliver excellent engineering teaching. Of 12 attendees presenting their work, there were two students, two technical staff and two professional services staff, along side  six academics. As you would expect, most were from the Engineering faculty, but they were joined by representatives from Elevate and Physics. As with engineering solutions, a diverse and collaborative approach to teaching engineering drives innovation, quality and good outcomes.   

Between them, the attendees presented papers:

• EDUCATING FUTURE ENGINEERS THROUGH MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT WEEKS TO ETHICALLY AND INCLUSIVELY ADDRESS THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABILITY
• LARGE GROUP AR LAB EXPERIMENT SIMULATION TO INCREASE STUDENT PARTICIPATION
• A co-curricular approach to addressing the variation of practical skills in students from diverse backgrounds
• How to deploy simulations to enhance practical engineering education
• Promoting International Chemical Engineering Postgraduate Taught Students’ Teamwork Skills via the Inclusive Workshop and Team-building Games
• UNLOCKING NEW POSSIBILITIES IN BIO EDUCATION AND RESEARCH: THE FIBER - FLEXIBLE INTERACTIVE BIOREACTOR
• Using Inquiry Based Learning to Teach Inclusive Engineering
• THE ARTEFACT PROJECT’S RECIPE FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY SUCCESS
• Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Antenna Teaching for Graduate Students
• Effective development and recognition of Teaching Assistant practice: An aligned model

Ran Workshops:

• PUT A FILTER ON IT…the art of reframing practical teaching activities
• Sorting skills: curriculum profiles and the forthcoming SEFI handbook
• Empowering Engineering Education: Tools and Strategies for International Accreditation

And led the Quality Assurance and Accreditation SIG.

Impressive, no?  

Not food for thought

The conference was expertly organised with a successful mix of keynote speakers, themed sessions for presentation of papers with time for interesting discussion, workshop sessions, a poster session, Special Interest Group meetings, as well as other events including well being and social activities, and the Gala Dinner held at Aquatis. A high bar was set for future conference organisation, primarily because the event was very welcoming for attendees whether they were established regulars or first timers, and regardless of experience. There were many things to learn at the conference, including the high value of an open, inclusive and friendly conference. 

* La Société Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs in case you were wondering