Office of Career Development and Corporate Relations to host Design for Humanity Engineering Challenge
Published: Jan 30, 2025 9:30 AM
By Dustin Duncan
The Office of Career Development and Corporate Relations (CDCR) will host its Design for Humanity Engineering Challenge Thursday, Feb. 6, as part of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering's Engineer Together Day.
According to Jessica Bowers, CDCR manager of career development content and strategy, the challenge is a roundtable discussion between students presented with a complex real-world scenario or problem statement that can best be solved by a team of engineers across different disciplines. The program is open to all engineering disciplines, as well as students from Auburn's School of Industrial and Graphic Design.
Once the program goals and challenge topic are introduced, multidisciplinary teams have about 20 to 25 minutes to work through the challenge together. The challenges are centered on designing solutions with a people-first mindset that considers varying needs and a wide range of possible users.
The questions posed allow for collaboration across multiple disciplines, ensuring that students can bring their unique expertise to the table. Typically, the questions are related to universal design, which encourages students to approach engineering from multiple perspectives and disciplines.
Industry representatives, as well as engineering faculty and staff, are present at each table, serving as coaches and guiding students through a structured discussion. Bowers said this year's industry representatives include alumni and college partners from Amazon Web Services, AT&T, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, International Paper and Chick-fil-A.
In the past, the scenarios were developed by Auburn Engineering faculty and staff. However, the upcoming challenge is designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood, which recently opened an Auburn office just down the street from the engineering campus.
Bowers said the day begins by introducing the topic and outlining the goals of the challenge. The session has two main objectives:
"Engineering is about bringing together teams from different fields to solve complex problems, and that's the foundation of our challenge."
LaMondia said one of the main focuses is connecting the challenge to career competencies, and before students dive into solving the program, he leads a discussion to help students get into the right mindset.
"I make sure they think about the following questions: What do we know? What do we not know? What additional information should we seek? How does this challenge relate to real-world engineering careers?" LaMondia said. "This discussion helps students see the relevance of their work beyond the challenge itself. It also provides them with valuable experience they can reference in job interviews, demonstrating how they've applied their skills in a collaborative setting."
Teams’ response to the challenge are evaluated by industry representatives, faculty and staff members based on how well students respond to questions about their work. After all rubrics are collected and scores totaled, a winning team is selected. The winning team will receive a prize, which includes donations from International Paper as well as items provided by CDCR.
Ultimately, Bowers said the challenge is designed to help students bridge the gap between academic learning and professional application.
"We hope students walk away from this experience with the ability to illustrate their level of competence in the skills we know employers seek," she said. "And as always, we encourage engineering students to access the Career Development and Corporate Relations Office for support in any aspect of their career development process, as we seek to equip and empower students to discover, develop and launch professional experiences and purposeful careers."
Launched in 2022, Engineer Together represents the college’s initiatives to cultivate an environment where all faculty, staff and students are welcomed, valued, respected and engaged. It also represents an approach to engineering education where there is intentional consideration given to the unique needs and interests of the populations who rely on the products, processes and infrastructure our engineers will design throughout their careers. Media Contact: , dzd0065@auburn.edu, 334-844-2326
According to Jessica Bowers, CDCR manager of career development content and strategy, the challenge is a roundtable discussion between students presented with a complex real-world scenario or problem statement that can best be solved by a team of engineers across different disciplines. The program is open to all engineering disciplines, as well as students from Auburn's School of Industrial and Graphic Design.
Once the program goals and challenge topic are introduced, multidisciplinary teams have about 20 to 25 minutes to work through the challenge together. The challenges are centered on designing solutions with a people-first mindset that considers varying needs and a wide range of possible users.
The questions posed allow for collaboration across multiple disciplines, ensuring that students can bring their unique expertise to the table. Typically, the questions are related to universal design, which encourages students to approach engineering from multiple perspectives and disciplines.
Industry representatives, as well as engineering faculty and staff, are present at each table, serving as coaches and guiding students through a structured discussion. Bowers said this year's industry representatives include alumni and college partners from Amazon Web Services, AT&T, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, International Paper and Chick-fil-A.
In the past, the scenarios were developed by Auburn Engineering faculty and staff. However, the upcoming challenge is designed by Goodwyn Mills Cawood, which recently opened an Auburn office just down the street from the engineering campus.
Bowers said the day begins by introducing the topic and outlining the goals of the challenge. The session has two main objectives:
- To make students aware of and give them the opportunity to practice a human-centered approach to design — focusing on who will be impacted by a design, understanding the needs of that population and ensuring that designs are tailored accordingly.
- To introduce and provide practice with the eight career readiness competencies-helping students articulate how they apply these skills through their participation in the challenge.
"Engineering is about bringing together teams from different fields to solve complex problems, and that's the foundation of our challenge."
LaMondia said one of the main focuses is connecting the challenge to career competencies, and before students dive into solving the program, he leads a discussion to help students get into the right mindset.
"I make sure they think about the following questions: What do we know? What do we not know? What additional information should we seek? How does this challenge relate to real-world engineering careers?" LaMondia said. "This discussion helps students see the relevance of their work beyond the challenge itself. It also provides them with valuable experience they can reference in job interviews, demonstrating how they've applied their skills in a collaborative setting."
Teams’ response to the challenge are evaluated by industry representatives, faculty and staff members based on how well students respond to questions about their work. After all rubrics are collected and scores totaled, a winning team is selected. The winning team will receive a prize, which includes donations from International Paper as well as items provided by CDCR.
Ultimately, Bowers said the challenge is designed to help students bridge the gap between academic learning and professional application.
"We hope students walk away from this experience with the ability to illustrate their level of competence in the skills we know employers seek," she said. "And as always, we encourage engineering students to access the Career Development and Corporate Relations Office for support in any aspect of their career development process, as we seek to equip and empower students to discover, develop and launch professional experiences and purposeful careers."
Launched in 2022, Engineer Together represents the college’s initiatives to cultivate an environment where all faculty, staff and students are welcomed, valued, respected and engaged. It also represents an approach to engineering education where there is intentional consideration given to the unique needs and interests of the populations who rely on the products, processes and infrastructure our engineers will design throughout their careers. Media Contact: , dzd0065@auburn.edu, 334-844-2326
A team of students and faculty participate in the Design for Humanity Challenge.
