The Michigan Engineering Competencies are a set of 12 skills that the University of Michigan believes all of its students should master. For each of the competencies, I sat down and thought about my experiences and what I’d like to further develop, then chose a level of proficiency (exploring, engaging, or explaining). Here are each of the 12 skills and my proficiency as well as a little explanation about my experience with each one.
Communication
Engaging
I’ve expanded my written communication through ENGR 100 and ROB 204, both courses which have a focus on technical communication. I’ve practiced and improved this skill by writing several papers and proposals, one for a research project and a couple for my ROB 330 course. My verbal communication still has some work to do, as I’ve done several presentations, but still have a lot of room to grow in terms of confidence and practice.
Creativity
Engaging
Every engineering course forces you to think creatively to solve problems. This is especially true in my Robotics courses, where we have to design robots and write code to complete tasks given to us. I really enjoy the creativity of solving a given problem, but would like to improve my creativity in researching and selecting a problem to work on.
Empathy
Explaining
Every Robotics class I’ve taken is a group project, thus I’ve learned how to work with people from different backgrounds, in different situations, and with different goals. Working with various group mates has taught me how to be empathetic to their situations.
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Exploring
None of my courses thus far have focused on entrepreneurship and engaging students to find ways to combine their creative ideas with business. It’s not an area I’ve had much interest in before, but I’m always open to learning more through conversation or courses.
Ethics
Exploring
While I believe ethics and engineering can be very closely tied, I haven’t done much research (classes or personal) into it. It’s an area which has been brought up in my technical communications classes, and one I’m interested to learn more about as I progress through my coursework.
Global/Cultural Awareness
Engaging
My global and cultural awareness has come through personal experience instead of through formal avenues. I’ve learned a lot about Korean culture, as that’s how I was raised. This has also taught me to be respectful of other people’s cultures. While I don’t know about many cultures, I'm always curious to learn more though travel, discussion, and any other source of information.
Grit/Resilience/Persistence
Explaining
Taking pilot classes in the Robotics department has taught me a lot of persistence. When a course hasn’t been fine tuned, a lot more than what can be reasonably expected is asked from you as a student. Working through tough senior/graduate level work as a sophomore has taught me how to keep going through tough times and how to ask for help when needed.
Leadership
Engaging
As treasurer for the Michigan Climbing Club and having previously taken formal engineering leadership roles in high school, I feel I have a good leadership base. However, I’ve also taken on several informal team leads for class projects and on my research team, splitting up work and making sure it gets done, as well as leading meetings.
Lifelong Learning
Explaining
As soon as I started taking mid-level Robotics courses, I immediately was so glad I chose it as my major. The content was so interesting, and I loved figuring out effective methods of code implementation. Thus far, I’ve found joy in the content of every Robotics course I’ve taken, and leave my classes more curious than I entered.
Risk Management
Engaging
I've learned about risk management through my classes and in my research team. With courses, I have to balance all my classes to make sure I do well in all of them. For my research team we have to manage how much money we need, and the likelihood of parts breaking and needing to restart.
Systems Thinking
Explaining
Robotics is described as a combination of 4-5 majors, pulling from each area to create a robot. I believe this is similar to systems thinking. How can I create a robot to solve a broad problem, but also focus on all the intricate design, code, and wiring details within the robot to make it function. I’ve had experience with this in all of my Robotics courses and my current research team.
Teamwork
Explaining
Every Robotics course I’ve taken has been team assignments. This has taught me valuable skills about how to split work, when to set deadlines, how to pull my weight, and how to not do too much work for the team. Every class teaches me more about how to be a good teammate and work within a team.