Cross-Cultural Service-Learning for Responsible Engineering Graduates

This chapter first explores the need for responsible engineering. Is technique the principal responsibility of engineers, the material working out of objectives defined and supplied by others? Or are engineers also responsible, in view of our special knowledge, for creating and using technologies in ways that preserve, honor, and advance prevailing social, political, and economic values? The chapter then examines the educational objectives of Messiah's engineering program vis-a-vis the college's mission statement and the idea of responsible engineering. It considers the influence of the appropriate technology movement in shaping our vision and the role of service-learning in creating our program. The chapter concludes with a case study of an international service-learning project sponsored by Messiah's engineering students. [authors]