Learning Objectives
Through coursework in the Wellesley Engineering Laboratory (We-Lab), research opportunities, advising, and co-curricular opportunities, Engineering Studies seeks to educate students in the context of a liberal arts education to:
- apply the knowledge and skills acquired in their engineering studies to enhance their capability in their own disciplines and through cross-disciplinary work in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences
- assess technological innovations critically using lenses from both engineering and liberal arts disciplines
- develop the confidence and preparation to pursue engineering in more depth at MIT or Olin and in graduate school, should the student seek to do so.
In addition, there are Engineering Opportunities available to students interested in studying engineering within the liberal arts context at Olin College of Engineering and with MIT.
Learning Outcomes
Students who take one or more Engineering Studies courses at Wellesley College will:
- develop and refine the ability to work on a team-based project and to solve problems collaboratively
- design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability and sustainability.
- communicate engineering concepts effectively through written and visual work, informal discussions, and formal presentations
- evaluate the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental and societal context
- integrate qualitative and quantitative engineering methodologies and approaches drawn from science, mathematics, social sciences, and humanities, to gather data, analyze, model, and draw conclusions
- generate novel technical ideas and approaches, taking into account authentic constraints including interpreting social conditions.