Elsevier, the information analytics business specialising in science and health, has announced that the Engineering Academic Challenge (EAC) 2017 will begin on September 18, 2017. The bi-annual five-week challenge enables engineering teachers and librarians around the world to integrate real-world problem-solving into their STEM education communities. This year's cross-disciplinary questions revolve around the key challenges that future engineers will solve; including expanding access to clean water, designing and building better robots, and engineering the tools of scientific discovery. Participants will compete to solve questions for five consecutive weeks, with weekly and overall prizes awarded to top performing students.
Now in its 12th year, the EAC involves taking on real-world challenges faced by users of Knovel, Elsevier's engineering decision support solution that helps engineers answer complex problems. The open-ended problems, drafted by a team of engineering students at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, will require that students take a creative approach and access a broad range of scientific knowledge in order to solve them. Participants are given access to Knovel, and also to Engineering Village's flagship database, Ei Compendex. Knovel has recently undergone a user interface (UI) redesign; the new intuitive UI has been developed with engineers in mind, requiring minimal training to master. Last year, 60% of EAC participants were new users to the products, highlighting just how important it is that the tools they use are intuitive and easy to understand.
The EAC flips the traditional education model by promoting active learning and placing the student at the center of the experience. By engaging students through active learning methods, professors and librarians can encourage faster learning and improved knowledge retention - which contributes to operational excellence in the workplace. Active learning has shown to be a superior method of teaching; in comparison to traditional lecturing, failure rates for students decline by 55%. In conjunction, the EAC operates on a 'research sprint' model where students share and communicate their findings, helping to develop crucial skills required in the working world.
Engineering and science students from academic institutions across the globe who wish to participate in this year's challenge can register at: https://eac.elsevier.com/
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