Leveraging Professional Networks for an Equitable, Smart Society - A Case Study on the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies

Professional networks provide for the rapid exchange of important information, the facilitation of action around important tasks, and other activities that could lead to the promotion of equitable, smart societies. The field of engineering education has strongly relied on professional networks for growth as an academic field as well as for dissemination of scholarly findings and concrete impact. The International Federation on Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) serves as a global professional society for the field of engineering education and has worked to enhance global engineering education by leveraging its networks of engineering educators and partners. In its mission to lead global engineering education into the 21st century, IFEES has established strategic branches of actors and initiatives within its network to target global objectives: Top Down Academic Support, Capacity Building, Bottom-Up academic support [student involvement], and Cross-Sector Relations. IFEES acts a scholarly network and has developed a strategic plan in which linking actors to operate as a whole can provide return greater than the sum of its parts. These include best practices for academic leaders via the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), capacity building with the International Institute for Developing Engineering Academics (IIDEA), student engagement with the Student Platform for Engineering Education Development (SPEED). These initiatives and partnerships are presented to illustrate how the IFEES network is leveraged to provide for success within the global engineering community.