Engineering and the Human Vocation

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The central idea behind this course is that engineering can and should ultimately be considered a calling from God, and not simply a discipline one joins or struggles through to achieve a lucrative career upon graduation. But how does one hear the voice of God in their training to become an engineer, especially given the technical focus of the material? the class is broadly divided into three sections. The first section promotes understanding the broader Catholic teaching on university education and the dignity of work. What is the role of the Catholic Church in educating engineering students? While technology and innovation serve a core purpose in the engineering enterprise, how does one rightly merge technical progress with Catholic position on the rights and dignity of workers, and care for God's creation? The second section moves on to the process of discernment, or hearing God's calling in our lives. Specifically, how the tools of spiritual discernment can be used to hear how to best deploy the technical skills and training of an engineering vocation. How do we make a choice about which engineering discipline to pursue? This portion of the class is based on a simple basic answer to these questions: to hear God's calling in our careers as engineers, one needs to read well and pray well. The class will explore the Catholic Church's rich store of tools for hearing and incorporating the voice of God in our work. The third section of the class focuses on engineering ethics. If we follow God's call to the engineering vocation, how should we act with integrity, compassion, and love? We will understand engineering ethics from a distinctly Christian perspective, and develop the idea that an ethical framework has a strong analogy with the engineering design process itself.