Engineering Across Cultures

About

Course Goals 
Understand the role of human culture in identifying and solving engineering problems.
Explore various frameworks for defining and analyzing cultural drivers in the context of engineering design.
Practise ethnographic methods for customer discovery, needs assessment and developing product design specifications.
Gain practical experience in writing and analyzing engineering and business case studies.
Learn from the diverse backgrounds and international experiences of course participants through group discussions and projects.
 

Grading & Participation
Class discussions, interactions with lecturers, and student group work will play important roles in this course.
Individual Assignments (both in and out of class): 50%
Collaborative group work (both in and out of class): 50%
 
Final Course Project
Students will prepare ethnographic case studies that examine the influence of cultural norms, traditions and values on the development of an engineering product design.  The specific design problems and cultural settings will be determined in consultation with the instructors.  Students will have multiple opportunities to consult with instructors and other course participants as they develop and refine their case studies.  Peer to peer interviews and critiques will be leveraged to help each student leave the course with an original case study for their professional portfolios.

Course leader

The course will be led by TECNUN and University of Michigan professors: Professor Greg Hulbert, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan Ph. D. Paz Morer –Tecnun – University of Navarra

Target group

The course is open to any Engineering students willing to learn how to work in international teams or within an international professional context.

Fee info