Grant Programs

Enhancing Undergraduate Communication Skills in Engineering Programs

General Program Scope – The Engineering Information Foundation invites proposals that seek to ensure that undergraduate engineering students master the skills necessary to communicate critical information individually and in groups to diverse audiences through a variety of means that include listening, speaking, writing, and the use of visual and graphic tools. We especially welcome proposals from minority-serving institutions in the US, and institutions in developing countries. Grants in this program range to a maximum of US$25,000.

Current ABET accreditation standards require undergraduate degree programs in engineering to show that students have mastered “an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.”  Because the standards are open on how to ensure such mastery, there are many different curricular approaches possible for engineering students to learn this complex set of skills.

Successful proposals might include, but are not limited to, approaches that:

  • Develop, test, and evaluate new models that focus on listening, speaking, writing, and/or the use of visual and graphic tools and seek to establish benchmarks of success.

  • Incorporate existing and emerging technologies, such as CAD or AR/VR, and test their effectiveness in improving students’ visual communications skills.

  • Provide a matrix of instructional programs and materials and test their effectiveness in training engineering students to produce memoranda, project proposals, presentations, and other professional communications.

  • Emphasize teamwork and role-playing as a means for students to learn effective skills for communication in groups and across disciplinary and organizational boundaries.

  • Articulate how communication skills are related to other key competencies for engineering professionals, such as information seeking and use and project management.

  • Link the expertise of communications and information science specialists with the discipline of the engineering faculty.