News or events Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Engineering Professors Council

The latest news and updates on the development of the Complex Systems Toolkit.

20th June 2025 – The Working Group co-chairs, Dr. Nikita Hari (University of Oxford) and Peter Martin (Quanser), discuss why they believe the toolkit is a vital resource and why people should get involved.

7th June 2025 – A Call for Contributions is opened for the Complex Systems Toolkit, closing on 30th June.

27th May 2025 – The first Launch & Engagement sub-group meeting takes place.

28th April 2025 – The first Review & Curation sub-group meeting takes place.

17th April 2025 – The first Curriculum & Pedagogy Content sub-group meeting takes place.

15th April 2025 – The first Technical & Simulation Content sub-group meeting takes place.

April 2025 – Sub-group kick-off meetings are confirmed.

24th March 2025 – The second meeting of the Complex Systems Toolkit Working Group takes place.

March 2025 – Sub-groups of the Working Group are confirmed, to work on Curriculum Pedagogy Content, Technical and Simulation Content, Review and Curation, and Launch and Outreach.

27th February 2025 – The first meeting of the Complex Systems Toolkit Working Group takes place.

February 2025 – The first official meeting of the Working Group leadership team takes place.

December 2024 – Membership of the Complex Systems Toolkit Working Group is confirmed. The Working Group comprises subject experts from academia and industry who will manage the development of the toolkit.

November 2024 – The EPC announces that the development of a Complex Systems Toolkit, which will be supported by Quanser, and is aimed at supporting educators in their teaching of the subject. A call is put out for volunteers to be members of the Working Group, content reviewers, content contributors, and toolkit ambassadors.

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The Engineering Ethics Toolkit is a suite of interactive resources, guidance and teaching materials that enables educators to easily introduce ethics into the education of every engineer.

We’re always pleased to see the #EngineeringEthicsToolkit featured in news articles, blogs, podcasts etc., and we’ll be keeping track of those mentions here.

The Ethics Toolkit goes on tour – July 2025

The latest workshops, conferences and events to feature the Ethics Toolkit

SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education) Podcast Season 4: Episode #1 European Engineering Educators – 22nd April 2024

Sarah Jayne Hitt talks to Neil Cooke and Natalie Wint about the EPC’s Engineering Ethics Toolkit

E&T (The IET): Sarah Jayne Hitt – 2nd January 2024

Educating the educators – why the UK’s engineering teachers need reskilling too

LinkedIn Pulse: Diana Martin – 2nd January 2024

A look at engineering ethics education and research in 2023

SEFI – September 2023

Ethics workshop

REEN (Research in Engineering Education Network) Blog – 2nd August 2023

Using the Engineering Ethics Toolkit in your teaching

IMECHE (Institution of Mechanical Engineers) – 6th July 2023

Engineering ethics in the spotlight

Seen us in the news? Let us know!

Want to feature us? Get in touch for press kits, interviews etc.

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Any views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely that of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of the Engineering Professors’ Council or the Toolkit sponsors and supporters.

Here you’ll find a list of our events related to the Engineering Ethics Toolkit.

You can also search here for meetings of the Ethics Advisory Group, and Ethics Ambassadors.

We’re pleased to announce that we have just published some much requested new materials focused on helping you to assess ethics learning within the classroom.

Assessing ethics: Guidance & rubric is designed in a way that encourages students to grapple with the numerous tensions involved in ethical decision making, with a focus on assessment of the decision-making process as opposed to the ‘answer’ given, the decision made, or the outcome of the scenario.

Assessing ethics: Case study example: Water wars demonstrates how the questions provided in the rubric can be used to assess the competencies stipulated at each level, with this example focusing on our Water Wars case study.

We would like to thank Dr. Natalie Wint (UCL) and Dr. William Bennett (Swansea University) for the time and effort they have put into creating these resources.

You can see all of our assessment content here.

If you would like to submit content to the Engineering Ethics Toolkit, you can do so here.

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We are seeking academics and other engineering professionals to review the various case studies, enhancements, guidance articles and other resources that are submitted to us for publication within the Engineering Ethics Toolkit.

What you can expect as an Engineering Ethics Toolkit content reviewer:

That we will treat you as the professional and subject matter expert that you are.
That we will not ask you to review an unreasonable amount of content (our expectation is that this will not exceed two or three pieces of content per year).
That we will be clear about your assignments and deadlines.
That, once you have completed your first review assignment, we will recognise your academic citizenship by adding your bio and photo to our Contributors page.

What we expect from you:

That you will act professionally within this role and bring your expertise to the table when reviewing content.
That you will follow the applicable reviewer guidance document(s).
That you will ask us for support if you feel that the content of the review assignment exceeds your expertise.
That you will abide by any applicable rules, regulations or laws, including those regarding privacy and data protection.
That you will maintain confidentiality about the content of the review assignment until it is published.
That you will work to agreed deadlines once you have accepted a review assignment.

You can read our current Guidance for Reviewers document here.

To become a volunteer reviewer for the Engineering Ethics Toolkit, please complete this application form.

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We’re excited to share with you that we are starting work on a Complex Systems Toolkit, aimed at supporting educators in their teaching of the subject. Toolkit development will start in early 2025. The Complex Systems Toolkit is supported by Quanser. Read on to learn more and find out how you can get involved.

WHY is the EPC developing a Complex Systems Toolkit?

Complex systems shape our lives and day-to-day realities more than most people realise. At the intersection of computing, robotics, and engineering, ever more technology is dependent on complex systems, from AI to biomedical devices to infrastructure.
Understanding both complexity and systems is critical to today’s engineering graduates, especially as the UK seeks to position itself as a leader in areas like advanced manufacturing and autonomous systems.
Engineers increasingly work in environments where they are required to connect different disciplines, perspectives, and skills, to understand and navigate sociotechnical systems, and to communicate complexity to diverse audiences.
Employers today seek graduates who understand not just interdisciplinary engineering work, can work with teams, and understand complexity from different fields and specialisations, but also who can work with non-engineers on products and projects and translate that complexity effectively.
Systems thinking competency is seen as critical to education for sustainable development, and when integrated holistically, complex systems in engineering teaching can align with national and international initiatives that promote social and environmental responsibility.
Accreditation frameworks increasingly refer to complex problems and systems thinking in outcomes for engineering programmes.
Learning approaches for integrating complex systems knowledge, skills, and mindsets in engineering supports educators in their own professional development, since many may have not learned about this topic that they are now expected to teach.

WHAT is a Complex Systems Toolkit?

The Complex Systems Toolkit will be a suite of teaching resources, which may include a scaffolded framework of learning objectives, lesson plans, guidance, case studies, project ideas, and assessment models. These are intended to help educators integrate complex systems concepts into any engineering module or course.
The Toolkit’s ready-to-use classroom resources will be suitable for those who are new to teaching complex systems, as well as those who are more experienced.
Teaching materials will focus on the development of relevant knowledge, skills, and mindsets around complex systems and contain a variety of suggestions for implementation rooted in educational best practice.
Toolkit resources will help educators to understand, plan for, and implement complex systems learning across engineering curricula and demonstrate alignment with AHEP criteria and / or graduate attributes.
Guidance articles will explain key topics in complex systems education, highlighting existing resources and solutions and promoting engagement with a network of academic and industry experts.

HOW will the Toolkit be developed?

The Toolkit materials will be created and developed by diverse contributors from academia and industry, representing a variety of fields and coming from multiple continents.
The resources will be presented so that they can be used in many different settings such as online and hybrid teaching, lecture sessions, and problem-based learning scenarios.
The Toolkit will be a community-owned project, and anyone can suggest or submit a new resource or get involved.
The Toolkit will be developed by the Engineering Professors’ Council and is supported by Quanser.

WHO is involved in Toolkit development?

The development of the Toolkit will be managed by a Working Group of subject experts from academia and industry, put together by the EPC and Quanser.
To volunteer, please register your interest here: https://epc.ac.uk/resources/toolkit/complex-systems-toolkit/complex-systems-toolkit-get-involved/

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Have you used our Engineering Ethics Toolkit in your teaching? We want to hear from you!

February 2022 saw the launch of our Engineering Ethics Toolkit, with a range of case studies and guidance articles available to help engineering educators embed ethics into their modules and curriculum.

In March 2023 we published further guidance articles and case studies, as well as enhancements on some of the classroom activities suggested within our original cases. June 2023 saw the launch of the interactive Ethics Explorer, which replaced the static engineering ethics curriculum map from 2015. Since then the Toolkit has continued to grow.

More and more engineering educators are telling us that they use these resources, and are finding them invaluable in their teaching. A brave few have contributed blogs, detailing their methods of using and adapting our case studies and classroom activities, and giving an honest appraisal of their own learning curve in teaching ethics.

We’ve heard about leaning in to your discomfort, first time fear, and letting students flex their ethical muscles.

We would love to publish more of this type of content. We want to hear your experiences, good or bad, along with tips, potential pitfalls, what you added to our content in your teaching, and what you and your students got out of the experience. If you have students who are enthusiastic about sharing their thoughts, we would love to hear from them too.

We’d like you to send us your feedback, testimonials or blogs, whether that be a couple of sentences or paragraphs, or a full article with diagrams, or anything in between.

If you have just a few minutes, please complete our questionnaire.

If you have more to say, you can submit a blog post about your experiences.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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We were very pleased to be accepted to present a workshop at the 2023 SEFI Conference in September: Using a practical toolkit for embedding ethics in the engineering curriculum.

This workshop emphasised the need to embed ethics into the engineering curriculum, highlighted that behaviours such as inclusivity and sustainability must become instinctive – golden threads running through everything that engineers think and do – and posited that engineering programmes must be proactive in bringing engineering ethics to the fore in order to equip future engineers with the skills and mindset they need to succeed.

The workshop showcased the Engineering Ethics Toolkit and introduced a pragmatic approach to integrating ethics content into teaching, using examples and a detailed and interactive curriculum map, which connects the elements of the toolkit.

One of the presentations used in the workshop – Using a constructive alignment tool to plan ethics teaching – can be accessed and downloaded from here.

Sarah Jayne Hitt (NMITE), Johnny Rich (EPC), Stella Fowler (EPC), Sarah Junaid (Aston University)

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Do you want to champion the teaching of ethics within engineering?

Do you want to help shape the future of the Engineering Ethics Toolkit?

Do you need support with integrating ethics into your own engineering teaching?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you should join our new Ethics Ambassadors community.

Ethics Ambassadors was launched in March 2023 in order to expand and develop the work and recommendations of the Engineering Ethics Advisory Group, whose expertise and advocacy was instrumental during the creation and development of the Engineering Ethics Toolkit.

The aims of the Ethics Ambassadors community are:

to champion the teaching of ethics within engineering courses and modules;
to support educators integrating ethics teaching within engineering courses and modules;
to share best practice in engineering ethics teaching;
to identify and address needs within engineering ethics teaching;
to source, review, develop and publish new materials for the Engineering Ethics Toolkit.

An initial meeting of Ethics Ambassadors was held in June 2023 and we are currently in the process of nominating and voting for key roles within the community.

You can learn more about Ethics Ambassadors here.

To join Ethics Ambassadors, please fill out this Membership request form.

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Media release

15th June 2023

The Engineering Professors’ Council today announced the launch of innovative new content for their Engineering Ethics Toolkit, an online resource that helps educators to build ethics directly into their engineering teaching. 

Created by the Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC) with support from the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Ethics Toolkit addresses the issue that relatively few university engineering courses explicitly embed ethics teaching throughout the curriculum.  

The ability to tell right from wrong – and better from worse – is as vital to an engineer as maths or design skills, yet many UK higher education institutions fall short in effectively developing these abilities in future engineering professionals. The Engineering Ethics Toolkit solves this problem with a suite of interactive resources, guidance and teaching materials that aim to engage educators, and enable them to introduce ethics into the education and training of every engineer, allowing the UK to position itself as a leader in promoting engineering as a force to improve the world for people and the planet. 

As well as offering advice to educators who want to teach ethics but are not sure where to begin, the Toolkit features ready-to-use classroom resources that are rooted in educational best practice and align with the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP) criteria, which are the conditions for courses to receive professional accreditation.  

These case studies and other teaching materials highlight current and emerging real-world issues and can be used and adapted by anyone. The latest additions to the Engineering Ethics Toolkit include the interactive Ethics Explorer, which helps educators understand, plan for and implement ethics learning, and 30 new academic guidance articles, case studies and comprehensive classroom activities created and developed by academic and industry professionals. 

Dr Rhys Morgan, Director of Education and Diversity at the Royal Academy of Engineering, comments: “There has never been a more crucial time to ensure that the next generation of engineers have the skills and training to critically address ethical questions around issues such as artificial intelligence and sustainability. It is vital for the future of our profession, as well as the future of our society and planet, that every engineer develops the ability to make responsible and informed decisions regarding the ethics of their work.” 

Raffaella Ocone OBE FREng FRSE, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, remarks: “As engineers and as educators we want to improve the world. When we teach ethics within our engineering degrees, we teach the ability to determine what is wrong and what is right, what is a mistake and what is an improvement. The Engineering Ethics Toolkit makes it easy to include ethics in our teaching. It is a treasure trove for educators.” 

The Engineering Ethics Toolkit is a free to use suite of resources, available at epc.ac.uk/resources/toolkit/ethics-toolkit  

To hear about forthcoming Engineering Ethics Toolkit webinars and workshops, join the EPC’s Ethics Ambassadors community by emailing press@epc.ac.uk  

Ends

Notes to editors

The Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC) is the UK’s representative body for engineering academics in higher education.
The Royal Academy of Engineering is committed to supporting ethical practice in the engineering profession. Ethics is part of other behaviours such as inclusivity and sustainability, which ensure that both individuals and organisations are globally responsible. These behaviours help secure an inclusive economy and sustainable society for all. For more information on the Academy’s work in this area see https://raeng.org.uk/ethics
A press pack, including images, can be downloaded from http://epc.ac.uk/uploads/2023/06/Engineering-Ethics-Toolkit-Media-Pack-June-2023.zip

Contact

Contact: Johnny Rich
Email: press@epc.ac.uk
Phone: 0781 111 4292
Website: epc.ac.uk/resources/toolkit/ethics-toolkit
Twitter: @EngProfCouncil
#EngineeringEthicsToolkit
#EngineeringEthics

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