Engineering Change Lab-USA (ECL-USA) is a catalyst for change within the engineering community, helping it reach its highest potential on behalf of society
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From Cyber Security to Cyber Resilience: The Essential Role of the Engineering Community Summit Wrap-Up
Kyle Davy and Mike McMeekin
We live in a world in which ever more complex digital technologies are being integrated into our critical infrastructure systems (water, wastewater, electrical, pipelines, and manufacturing). The cyber security threats resulting from this transformation are outpacing the ability of society, and the engineering community, to effectively prevent and manage them.
A new, essential role for the engineering community is emerging — creation and stewardship of cyber-resilient critical infrastructure on behalf of society. Engineering Change Lab – USA’s (ECL) virtual summit on March 19, 2024, explored the magnitude of the threat, the consequences of cyber-attacks, barriers to progress in addressing these threats, and the nature of the “step change” required for the engineering community to fully embrace this leadership role. … Read More
Emerging Technologies & the Future of Licensure
Qingbin Cui, Ph.D., Kyle Davy, AIA & Michael McMeekin, P.E.
March 13, 2024
Advanced technologies such as connected autonomous vehicles, robotics and drones, artificial intelligence, bio-medical technologies, smart cities, and other cyber-physical systems pose new and serious challenges to the ability of the current engineering licensure regime to assure that engineers and the organizations employing them are protecting public health, safety, and welfare. The existing licensure system is also challenged with respect to providing guidance on the many macro-ethical dilemmas emerging alongside these advanced technologies.
It is imperative that our systems of regulating and licensing engineering adapt in parallel with the development and deployment of these emerging technologies and in a manner that is reflective of the engineering community’s role as stewards of public safety, society, and the environment.
These conclusions, reached at the end of Engineering Change Lab – USA’s (ECL) 2020 summit exploring Licensure Models for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, prompted the launch of a follow-on ECL initiative designed to imagine a transformational regulatory system that addresses the demands and dynamics of engineering practice in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR).
Early in 2024, the ECL initiative team along with a research team led by Dr. Qingbin Cui of the Build America Center at the University of Maryland reported the findings from a two-phase study that developed and explored a potential reimagined regulatory framework focused on a single emerging technology and engineering practice area, mobility engineering. The study also explored a set of four alternative models for implementation of the potential framework…. Read More
Engineering, Cybersecurity, and the Interests of Engineers and Everyone
The following post was written by Andy Bochman, Grid Strategist-Infrastructure Defender for Idaho National Laboratory’s National & Homeland Security Directorate. Andy will serve as a provocateur at the March 19 Moving From Cyber Security to Cyber Resilience Summit.
Whatever primary hat you wear (engineer, attorney, cyber guru, standards writer, regulator, or end user), imagine for a moment the challenge of cybersecurity from the perspective of each of those other folks. You are familiar, I take it, with the parable of the elephant in the dark room, and how one’s impression of what animal it is depends on which part they encounter first as they feel their way around.
Speaking of elephants, as framed by the engineering standard of care, if one were designing a bridge capable of safely and reliably supporting the passage of up to 100 elephants at a time, the normal best practice thing to do is design and build it with a safety factor — let’s say a structural design and materials selected to support 140 standard elephants. Of course, we need to define whether we are talking African or Asian elephants, as there’s a not insignificant weight difference, with Africans often reaching seven tons and the Asian species topping out at a bit over five.
In other words, details matter. We must pay attention to how initial assumptions about users can be proved wrong by future shifts: in technology, regulation, user behavior, or weather patterns for that matter…. Read More
We are living in a world that is facing an unprecedented combination of technological change…
and rapidly evolving societal needs, driven in large part by environmental imperatives. As this uncertain future unfolds, maintaining the status quo is not an option for the engineering community. The imperative for change and adaptation has driven the formation of ECL-USA.
Learn More about ECL-USASummits
ECL-USA convenes two to three times a year to share perspectives, deepen our understanding of engineering’s emerging future, and to launch experiments and focused initiatives designed both to foster change across the entire engineering system from education to practice to research to licensure.
Upcoming SummitsOur Way Forward
Our way forward is through action inspired by the Engineering Change Lab-USA’s mission. ECL-USA was started in 2017, with the mission of becoming a catalyst for change within the engineering profession, by helping the profession reach its highest potential on behalf of society.
To achieve our mission, we will:
- Bring together stakeholders, innovative thinkers, and change agents to explore and generate new knowledge about the role of engineering in an emerging future.
- Self-organize as an independent (non-aligned) entity – complementing existing stakeholder organizations (professional societies and associations), not attempting to duplicate their efforts.
- Become a communications hub, linking and sharing knowledge between stakeholders engaged in creating the future of the engineering community (profession).
- Engage in and lead collaborative initiatives designed to transform the engineering community (profession) to help it thrive in an evolving world.