Work in progress — Creating a collaborative learning environment for engineers and technologists

There is widespread agreement on the important role higher education plays in preparing students to enter the workplace as positive contributors able to work in multidisciplinary teams. This is especially true in Engineering and Technology education where many pundits have estimated there will be a shortfall of qualified STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates equal to the ever-changing demands of the private sector. As such, many institutions of higher education have responded to these concerns by developing programs and projects to facilitate workplace simulations where students can demonstrate their technical competence while working as a team. Furthermore, students participating in these activities are afforded an opportunity to develop a strong combination of technical and non-technical competencies necessary to be effective leaders while working in the diverse population of today´s business environments. This paper reports on a workplace simulation project experience that requires collaboration of technology students from a community college with undergraduate engineering students in bachelor´s degree programs to develop a new product.