Engineering and Society

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The Department of Engineering and Society brings together a set of innovative programs that touch engineering students in all fields or majors. The Department engages in activities that contribute to the SEAS’ mission to produce engineers who have excellent technical skills and breadth of understanding that will make them leaders and innovators with entrepreneurial mindsets.  The Department undertakes research that advances understanding of the social consequences of technology and the ways in which individuals, groups, and societies create and use technology.

The Department of Engineering and Society is responsible for a set of core courses that all undergraduate engineering students are required to take: Applied Math (APMA); Science, Technology and Society (STS); and general engineering (ENGR).  These core courses ensure that UVa engineering graduates have an in depth understanding of mathematics and science, and a broad appreciation of social, ethical, and global issues.

The Department is a locus for interactions across engineering fields, across the Schools of the University of Virginia, and outside the University.

The Applied Mathematics Program coordinates and administers mathematics instruction through its APMA courses to students in all departments of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The mathematical tools and expertise developed are essential to the professional development of the future engineer and applied scientist. This instruction forms the core of the analytical-mathematical component of an engineering education and lays the foundation for ongoing professional development.

All SEAS students are required to take the following courses:

• APMA 1110 Single Variable Calculus II
• APMA 2120 Multivariable Calculus
• APMA 2130 Ordinary Differential Equations

Other required APMA courses vary with the major.
Placing out of APMA course requirements:
A score of 5 on the AP BC calculus exam will be accepted as credit for APMA 1110.

The Center provides opportunities for students who wish to practice the engineering profession in a variety of contexts. These include national and international competitions in programs like the Society of Automotive Engineers Mini Baja event, the Department of Energy’s Solar Car racing, and the Virginia Genetically Engineered Machine team’s creations in synthetic biology. These activities bring together students, faculty, and technologists from a number of different institutions, industries, and agencies providing experiences that are not available in the traditional classroom. These events clearly add to the existing formal engineering classes being offered at UVa and provide subject matter for senior theses and departmental capstone projects as well while providing hands-on opportunities that bring insight to the many topics taught in the engineering curriculum. Experiential activities help students to recognize their true passion in engineering and give them a head-start when entering their careers. For more detailed information please go to the following website: http://www.seas.virginia.edu/students/experiential/.

Within the department, applied research and development is underway that assesses emerging information technology (IT)-based communication and collaboration solutions and explores their use in higher education. The effort studies how people communicate and identifies, develops, and evaluates user-friendly IT solutions for enhanced communication (particularly distributed collaborations over a distance). Current projects are examining:

1. How students might develop a global perspective on engineering through live, interactive courses that co-enroll engineering students in other countries,
2. How students, teaching assistants, and faculty can connect after class as a distributed community of learning and practice, using an IT solution that indicates a person’s real-time presence on the Internet and supports interactive sharing of voice, video, and course-related content,
3. How faculty might enhance student engagement and learning through the inclusion of expert speakers brought to class using distributed communication solutions,
4. How students can prepare for careers through distributed seminars and mentoring discussions with alumni located around the globe.
5. How the university can support economic development through distance learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels (the Engineers PRODUCED in Virginia initiative and the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program, respectively), and
6. How to evaluate the performance of the IT solutions employed, considering metrics that range from quality of service delivered by the systems, to quality of support provided by staff, to academic success of students using the systems.

Future efforts are expected to look at:

1. How faculty might more efficiently deliver instruction at a time of constrained resources in higher education, and
2. How faculty can increase the efficacy of their research programs by using distributed collaboration solutions to connect with colleagues around the globe.

In addition to the applied R&D work of the office, the Office of Online Innovations provides the day-to-day instructional design and technical support for all of the engineering school’s program-level online learning initiatives.

ENGR courses provide instruction and experience in areas of value to engineers of all disciplines. Whether an introduction to engineering problem solving and the engineering profession, or multi-disciplinary engineering project work, ENGR courses are characterized by their engineering-relevant content. Generally speaking, such courses are considered technical, in the sense that they will be taught by faculty having an engineering degree and/or significant professional engineering experience.

Second- and third-year undergraduates in SEAS are eligible to participate in the school’s Science and Technology Policy Internship Program. The program places interns in Congress, executive agencies, and non-government organizations (such as think tanks) in Washington, D.C., to work on science and technology policy for 10 weeks each summer. Admission is competitive and takes place during fall term. Those selected take a preparatory course during spring term. Depending on funding availability, the program provides financial support for some interns during the summer. The program functions with a similar endeavor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interns from the two schools share dormitory rooms, attend a speaker series, carry out service projects, and socialize together.

For the most up-to-date information on the program, see its website at http://www.sts.virginia.edu/pip.

You can contact the director at Policy Internship Program
Science, Technology, and Society Program
Thornton A-225
School of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Virginia
PO Box 400744
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904-4744
434-924-6118
SEASpolicyinternship@virginia.edu

The Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) advances understanding of the social and ethical dimensions of science and technology. STS provides instruction in subjects that are essential to the education of professional engineers. This instruction forms the core of a liberal education and lays the foundation for ongoing professional development. It ensures that students have seriously considered the moral and social aspects of their future life’s work.

All STS courses emphasize the relationships among science, technology, and society; ethics; and oral and written communication. STS courses are supplemented with course work in the College of Arts and Sciences through the Humanities and Social Science (H & SS) requirements.

STS Requirements
All SEAS students are required to take the following four courses:

• STS 1500 Science, Technology, and Contemporary Issues
• One STS 2000-level course or 3000 level course
• STS 4500 STS and Engineering Practice
• STS 4600 The Engineer, Ethics, and Professional Responsibility

Placing Out of STS Course Requirements:

• STS 1500: All SEAS students are required to take this course. Students who have had an equivalent course at another university may petition the STS for transfer credit.
• STS 2000/3000 level requirement: Transfer credit is occasionally given for an STS 2000 level course. Transfer courses must include STS content and involve substantial oral and written communication. The decision to accept a transfer course for STS 2000 credit is made on a case by case basis when the student submits a petition to the Department.
• STS 4500-4600: No transfer credit or substitutions can be made for STS 4500-4600, nor is there any possibility of placing out. Students must be in residence to take these courses. Students are not permitted to take STS 4500 and STS 4600 simultaneously. Each course is offered every semester as well as during the summer.

Senior Thesis: In their senior year, all engineering undergraduates undertake a senior thesis project. Students work with a faculty member in their major and with an STS faculty member teaching STS 4500-4600; students produce a thesis portfolio that includes a technical report and an STS research paper.

More engineers work internationally than any other profession. SEAS International Programs (SEAS IP) work to facilitate international study, work and service experience for all SEAS students, undergraduate and graduate. SEAS IP can help you find out which program and location is best for you, whether it be a semester abroad at one of SEAS’ many partner universities worldwide, a research internship, a summer engineering program, a January term course, or engineering in community project. The key to successful integration of education abroad is to start your planning early. Visit the SEAS International Programs website: http://www.seas.virginia.edu/admin/intlprograms.php, and the University International Studies Office (ISO) website: http://www.virginia.edu/iso/ for more information. Contact Prof. Dana M. Elzey (dme2j@virginia.edu), SEAS IP Director, or your departmental study abroad advisor, for information and advising.