On June 26-28, 2024, 84 brothers and sisters in Christ representing 37 different institutions gathered on the beautiful campus of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, for the fifteenth Christian Engineering Conference. Dr. David Dittenber, from Cedarville University, served as the program chair, and Dr. Kayt Frisch and Dr. Mike Foster served as general co-chairs. The conference opened on Wednesday evening with a banquet and insightful keynote address by Dr. Jacob Shatzer from Union University on Christianity and Artificial Intelligence, which was a central theme throughout the conference. The opening night concluded with a time of praise and worship in song led by Dr. Justin Vander Werff from Dordt University, Dr. Markus Ong from Whitworth University, and Dr. Doug Fontes from Westmont College. 

Thursday was packed with concurrent paper sessions on many interesting and challenging topics at the intersection of faith and engineering. Session themes included artificial intelligence, engineering design norms, Christian engineering education, social issues in engineering and education, and engineering practice. A continuing education session in the afternoon led by Dr. Ethan Brue from Dordt University focused on the historical development of engineering ethics. In the evening, participants had an opportunity to tour George Fox University’s engineering facilities. The evening concluded with the CES business meeting and a closing session related to CES’s new initiative to establish local chapters. 

Friday, the final day of the conference, brought more paper sessions on engineering practice, engineering education, and pedagogical applications, and the conference concluded after lunch with an invitational Leaders’ Summit and a final session on artificial intelligence for the workplace or classroom. Proceedings for the entire conference can be found here: https://www.christianengineering.org/publications/conference-proceedings  

Overall, the conference was a wonderful time of reflection, fellowship, encouragement, and study of what it means to be Christ-followers in engineering and technology. We encourage you to consider attending our next conference! 

2026 CES and ACMS Joint Conference   

We are excited to announce that our next national conference will be a joint conference co-hosted by the Christian Engineering Society (CES) and the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences (ACMS). This conference will be hosted at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in late May 2026. This will be the first joint conference with these two groups, and we are excited to see how this conference might build new connections and synergies between these two well-established groups of Christians who have diligently engaged what it means to serve Christ in STEM-related disciplines.  

CES Local Chapters

The CES has welcomed Christian engineering professionals outside academia for many years. However, CES membership still primarily comprises engineering educators, most of them from Christian institutions of higher education. To truly represent and support the broader community of Christian engineers, the CES has launched an initiative to start local chapters. We hope to increase participation from industry professionals, as well as faculty at both Christian and secular institutions, undergraduate and graduate students, and those serving in engineering missions. 

To further the CES mission of equipping engineers to follow Christ in their profession, local chapters will… 

• Sponsor regular professional development events that foster fellowship, discussion, and networking. 

• Support opportunities for students and young professionals to be discipled by older industry professionals. 

• Host CES regional conferences. 

• Enable engineers to earn PDH credit for participating in continuing education sessions and other activities. 

• Hold K–12 outreach activities. 

• Be financially sustainable after their first two years. 

• Deepen local engineers’ Christian faith as the foundation for their engineering vocation.
  
  

The first two chapters are in Harrisburg, PA (hosted by Messiah University) and in northwest Iowa (hosted by Dordt University). Local chapters receive support from a core team remotely executing logistical and financial tasks for multiple locations. If you are interested in seeing a CES chapter established in your area, please contact Philip Tan (ptan@messiah.edu), associate professor of engineering at Messiah University, who is leading the pilot program.

The Northwest Iowa local chapter will be hosting its kickoff meeting in Sioux Center on October 26. If you are interested in attending or finding out more, please contact Matt Haken (mtthkn19@dordt.edu).

The Harrisburg chapter is holding a webinar featuring Matt Walsh, engineering missionary in Burkina Faso, on October 30, and a dinner meeting with speaker Doug Flemmens on November 11. PDH credit is available, and all are welcome.

CES Board Members 

An online election that concluded during the 2024 conference brought two new board members to the CES team: Kimberly Cornett and Philip Tan. Kim and Philip are filling the seats of outgoing members Gayle Ermer and William Jordan. Board positions for 2024-2025 have been selected as follows: 

• President: Justin Vander Werff (Department Chair, Professor of Engineering, Dordt University) 

• Vice President: Kristine Johnson (Senior Advanced Systems Engineer, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies) 

• Secretary: Philip Tan (Associate Professor of Engineering, Messiah University) 

• Treasurer: Brian Swartz (Department Chair, Professor of Engineering, Messiah University) 

• Member at large: Chuck Baukal (Director of Engineering, Oklahoma Baptist University) 

• Member at large: Kim Cornett (Instructor of Electrical Engineering, John Brown University) 

• Member at large: Carrie Francis (Director of Service and Introductory Physics Courses, University of Wisconsin-Madison) 

Bios of the board members can be found here: https://sites.google.com/christianengineering.org/christianengineeringsociety/about-ces/officers?authuser=0  

We are thankful for this group of Christ-followers who are excited to use their time and talents to advance the mission of the Christian Engineering Society in the year ahead! 

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. If you have questions or suggestions related to the newsletter, contact the CES secretary Philip Tan at membership@christianengineering.org. 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 president Justin Vander Werff at president@christianengineering.org.

JOB Postings and CES LinkedIn/Facebook Page

Don't forget to check the Resources & Career page for job postings and the following pages.

• Facebook Christian Engineering group

• LinkedIn Christian Engineering group