Fall 2022 CES Newsletter
CEC 2022 Highlights
The 2022 Christian Engineering Conference (CEC) was held June 29-July 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota. We had 77 engineers from academia and industry participate, including a few who learned of the conference at ASEE earlier in the week. The keynote address was given by Ethan Brue, Derek Schuurman, and Steve VanderLeest, coauthors of A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers from IV Press. The conference also featured a panel discussion on approaches to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on the campuses of Christian colleges and universities. A poster session and tours of local industry also provided opportunities for informal discussions.
This year’s paper sessions included 25 papers covering topics from Christian pedagogy and inspirational engineers from history to the fruit of our faith in the engineering workplace. Two additional papers were presented as devotionals, along with 4 posters. These were submitted by over 50 authors from 16 Christian colleges and universities, 4 industry engineers, and one international university. Complete proceedings of the 2022 CEC are available at https://www.christianengineering.org/publications/christian-engineering-conference-cec-proceedings.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this conference a time for fellowship and growth, including Brian Swartz (Messiah University, Program Chair) and David Dittenber (Cedarville University, Assistant Program Chair), Mike Jacobson and Rachel Angerhofer (University of Northwestern - St. Paul, transportation coordinators), and CES board members Bill Jordan (Baylor University), Gayle Ermer (Calvin University), Melani Plett (Seattle Pacific University), Justin Vander Werff (Dordt University), Ted Song (John Brown University), and Steve VanderLeest (Boeing). Thank you also to all of those who helped with abstract and paper reviews, praise and worship, devotions, session moderating, and panels.
The next formal gathering of the CES will be a dinner in Baltimore in June 2023, followed by the next CEC conference at George Fox University in 2024. We hope you will be able to join us!
Carrie Francis, CEC 2022 Conference General Chair
Diversity Resources (Follow-Up from CES 2022)
At the 2022 Christian Engineering Conference at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul, a panel of representatives from several Christian universities led a discussion related to topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and how Christian engineering educators may engage with these topics in a manner that is beneficial to students and consistent with a Biblical worldview. This is becoming increasingly important for Christian universities to address, not least because of potential engineering accreditation requirements related to these topics that are likely to be implemented within the next few years.
At the conclusion of the panel, conference attendees were invited to submit suggestions by email of any resources that they believed might be helpful to other Christian engineering educators as they consider how principles of DEI may fit within their engineering programs. The attached list includes a summary of all of the suggestions that were submitted. Please note that these resources were suggested by individual members of the society and should not be considered to represent any official viewpoints of the society as a whole.
David B. Dittenber, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Panel Session Chair, CES 2022
CEC2022 - DEI Resource List.pdfEngineering and the Bible Book
We are looking for chapters for a new book entitled Engineering and the Bible. To our knowledge, no book examines the Bible through the lens of engineering. The thesis of the proposed book is that engineers can make some unique contributions to the community of faith in its understanding and application of the Bible. Two target audiences are the focus for this book: Christian engineers and Christian engineering students. The book can be used as an introductory text for Christian engineering classes. The first draft of the book will be due one year from when the proposal is approved by the publisher. If you are interested, please submit a chapter proposal by October 31. Contact us for the chapter proposal form and for a list of the 17 chapters already suggested.
Editors to Contact with Any Questions: Chuck Baukal and Mark Horstemeyer
Engineering Ministries International Faith+Work Connect Event (Colorado Springs, CO; Nov. 11-12, 2023)
From EMI: "Join us in our hometown of Colorado Springs on November 11th - 12th for Faith + Work Connect: An EMI Network Gathering. Connect with other Christian design professionals, engage with EMI staff and enjoy content ranging from technical trainings to stories of God's work at EMI. In addition, we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary and hosting an open house of our brand new office building!"
Newsletter Sign Up and Article Contributions
This newsletter is a publication of the Christian Engineering Society, distributed no more than once per month. You can sign up to receive an email notification when a new newsletter is available. Ted Song of John Brown University is the moderator and editor of the newsletter. If you have questions about the newsletter, send an email to Ted at tsong@jbu.edu. Additionally, if there is a project or activity at your institution/organization that relates engineering with faith, missions and/or service, we’d like to include it in a future CES newsletter. Society members are always encouraged to submit announcements and contribute articles! (Editor reserves the right to make the final decision on inclusion of all content.) CES also welcomes members to contribute articles or suggest new books to be added to this growing body of literature. If you are interested, please contact the CES resource curator Dr. David Che at David.Che@indwes.edu.
JOB Postings and CES LinkedIn/Facebook Page
Don't forget to check the Resources & Career page for job postings and the following pages.