Engineering: Connecting Cosmos & Consciousness - Groep T

‘educating’. “Education is not the same as educating.
Education is the theory of learning and teaching.
Educating is about people: learning to know, to do,
to live together and to be. What does that mean,
developing people? Well, it all has to do with educing
the essence. To bring to development all that
is in you, what was given you through your genes.
Becoming who you already are as an engineer.”
Evolving environment
Again according to Prof. De Graeve, Engineering is
also related to energizing the emptiness. “Emptiness
is not synonymous to vacuum. Emptiness means
that everything does not have an inherent existence.
Something only exists when it is interconnected with
all other things. An engineer must be aware of the
fact that all things in life are connected with each
other. This is Buddhism, Eastern philosophy and it
touches the essence of Chinese thinking.”
Enterprising is, still according to Prof. De Graeve,
experiencing existence. “In all that you do, you experience
existence. And this existence is experienced
in an environment. Environmenting – the fourth E –
deals with embracing the evolving environment. And
what is the ultimate environment? That’s the cosmos.
We are one with the cosmos.”
The fifth E is ensembling. “Of course that is not the
same as assembling,” explains Prof. De Graeve. “Naturally,
engineers love to assemble, but ensembling
goes beyond that. It is about ‘enconsciousizing oneness’,
in other words, it is about the growing awareness
of oneness, of everything being connected to
everything. Enconsciousizing oneness means that
engineers, by making things, become increasingly
aware that all is one. That also cosmos and consciousness
are one. If young people discover that they are
one with the cosmos and consciousness as an engineer,
the engineering profession will immediately
become much more appealing to them.”
CDIO and backbone
According to Prof. De Graeve, the CDIO principles
fit fully within with the 5E model, especially in engineering.
“CDIO is the minimum, the backbone you
need in engineering. But an engineer also must be
enterprising, have a mission. When you are enterprising,
you are embracing the environment. When you
are educating, you have to educe the essence. And
when you see the oneness, you are ensembling. But
the ultimate ensembling is the counsciousness. And
the ultimate environment is the cosmos. CDIO is in
fact cosmos and consciousness.”
Beyond textbooks
After his speech, Prof. De Graeve gave the floor to
five students of the Beijing Jiaotong International
Class who had started this academic year. The International
Class is the result of years of collaborative
work between GROUP T and the Beijing Jiaotong
University. The five students testified to their experiences
with the CDIO principles and the 5E model
from which their curriculum was conceived.
“CDIO is in fact cosmos
and consciousness.”
Zha Lichen emphasized that the International Class is
not a copy of the existing Chinese engineering program
but distinguishes itself in a number of ways.
“We step beyond textbooks. We visit companies and
learn from experience during the Engineering Experiences.
We love this style of study.”
Li Luxi spoke of the importance of teamwork. “In
high school everything was about competition. In the
International Class, cooperation is key. Team stands
for Together Each Achieves More. It’s no longer
‘I made it’. It’s ‘We made it’.”
Hero and engineer
Tan Qin recalled an old Chinese proverb: ‘Environment
creates talents.’ She believes that the important
steps in this process include knowing, adapting, making
use of and creating. An old story by Kuang Hong
illustrates this. “Kuang Hong’s family was so poor
that he had to start working for a rich land owner.
He couldn’t go to school but asked his boss for permission
to read books from his library in exchange
for work. This is how Kuang Hong educated himself
and became a famous scholar.”
Li Jun quoted a classic from Western literature: Robinson
Crusoe. A hero and an engineer. On his secluded
island, he managed to organize himself such that he
was able to provide for his needs for years. “He first
conceives life on that island, then designs the essential
needs, implements these ideals and operates to
survive,” relates Li Jun.
Ying Jinbing spoke about ‘Life is an Engineering
Experience’ and took himself as an example. “I grew
up as an only child and had nobody to play with at
home. I dreamed of having a friend and resolved to
build myself a robot friend later. In primary school,
I made paper kites and systematically took apart
electrical devices to see how they worked. As a teenager,
I built entire constructions using LEGO, at first
by following the instructions, later by using my own
imagination. In high school I developed a fascination
with Chinese painting and how it’s possible to create
an entire world with a few dots and lines. When
I chose the International Class, all these memories
came back to me. Imitating, discovering, creating,
designing. Engineers are not only educated at colleges.
Our whole life is a continuation of Engineering
Experiences.”
Y.P.
GROUP T - LEUVEN ENGINEERING COLLEGE
2
Prof. Dr. Johan De Graeve, President and Chief Executive of GROUP T and Prof. Dr. Ning Bin, President of Beijing
Jiaotong University with students from the International Class: Tan Qin, Ji Luxi, Zha Lichen, Ying Jinling and L Jun.
jg. 20, nr. 3, 16 augustus 2011
03183_INGENIEURS_Interview_3_20.indd 2 11/07/11 17:01