INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN CDIO PROGRAMS

Engineers are today involved in many ways in international projects. This may involve, for example, having various components of a large and complex engineering system produced in different countries, these components then being brought together at some location where the system is assembled. Another way in which international interaction in engineering occurs is where the design of a system is done in one country and the manufacture and assembly of the system is done in other countries and the whole process is planned and monitored in yet another country. There are many other ways in which engineering tasks are undertaken in an international environment and the practise of engineering in such an environment is becoming more and more common. Some preparation for working in an international environment, therefore, should be included in engineering programs. In this paper some of the ways in which engineers work in an international environment are reviewed and discussed and methods for including consideration of working in an international environment in an engineering program are discussed. The fact that the CDIO Syllabus clearly mentions international considerations only in 3.2 COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES is discussed. CDIO, with its international membership and commitment to the development of curricula that consider all aspects of engineering, would seem to be an ideal organization to develop methods for bringing such international considerations into engineering curricula and this is also discussed.