Advancing Engineering Education Beyond COVID: A Guide for Educators

Educators, are you ready to meet the challenge of cultivating the next generation of engineers in a post-COVID-19 context?

Current engineering student cohorts are unique to their predecessors: they are more diverse and have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They will also play a more significant role in contributing to global sustainability efforts. Innovating engineering education is of vital importance for preparing students to confront society’s most significant sustainability issues: our future depends on it.

Advancing Engineering Education Beyond COVID: A Guide for Educators offers invaluable insights on topics such as implementing active-learning activities in hybrid modes; developing effective and engaging online resources; creating psychologically safe learning environments that support academic achievement and mental health; and embedding sustainability within engineering education. Students’ own perspectives of online learning are also incorporated, with the inclusion of a chapter authored by undergraduate engineering students.

This book consolidates the expertise of leading authorities within engineering education, providing an essential resource for educators responsible for shaping the next generation of engineers in a post-COVID-19 world.

Dr Ivan Gratchev is a Senior Lecturer at the Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University, Australia. He graduated from Moscow State University (Russia) and received his PhD from Kyoto University (Japan). He worked as a research fellow in the geotechnical laboratory of the University of Tokyo (Japan) before joining Griffith University (Australia) as a lecturer. His research interests are in geotechnical aspects of landslides, soil liquefaction, and rock mechanics. He has published numerous research articles in leading international journals and international conferences.

Since joining Griffith University in 2010, Dr Gratchev has taught several engineering courses (including soil mechanics, rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering practice) using a project-based approach. His teaching achievements were recognised by his peers and students through several learning and teaching citations and awards, including Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). Dr Gratchev’s innovative approach to teaching resulted in publication of two textbooks which have become a popular study resource among students around the world.

Dr Hugo G Espinosa received his bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico; his master’s degree from the University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and his Ph.D. degree (Summa Cum Laude) from the Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, in Electrical Engineering. He has been a visiting researcher at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Since 2014, he has been with the School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, where he is currently a Senior Lecturer in electronic engineering, and the First-year Coordinator for Engineering (Nathan Campus). Dr Espinosa is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He is the Chair of the Microwave Theory and Techniques/Antennas and Propagation (MTT/AP) Joint Chapter of the IEEE Queensland Section. He is also a member of the IEEE Education Society and the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Education Committee. Dr. Espinosa is Associate Editor and Editorial Board member of several academic journals, and the co-author of three book chapters of the recently published engineering education book entitled Teaching Electromagnetics: Innovative Approaches and Pedagogical Strategies (CRC Press). His research interests include engineering education, computational electromagnetics, antennas and propagation, electromagnetic separation of conducting materials, inertial-magnetic sensors, wearable sensor technology for human monitoring, and wearable technology in STEM.