The perfect platform for bringing academia and industry together - the GEDC Industry Forum, with Dora Smith

Dora Smith is the Senior Director of the Global Academic Program at Siemens, one of the world’s leading technology providers. Her entire career has been dedicated to the engineering technology industry and she has focused on academic outreach for the past seven years.

What initially drew you to the GEDC Industry Forum?

The Global Academic Program at Siemens is focused on empowering the next generation of engineers. We provide industry grade software, training resources and curriculum to students and educators. We look for opportunities that bring academia and industry together in ways that lead to actionable insights and the GEDC Industry Forum emerged as the perfect platform for this.

The first GEDC Industry Forum I attended was in person. It was lovely to be in a physical location and experience inspiration and engagement one-on-one and in small groups. I was really impressed when we shifted online last year, we didn't lose the magic of the event, using online meeting tools to enable collaboration in groups and have inspirational sessions. The Forum also creates networking opportunities with individuals who are thought leaders and change agents. You form invaluable bonds and relationships that follow on after the event.

I find it incredibly valuable that the event brings into the conversation the voices of our key constituencies—students and future engineers into the conversation. The Inspirational Sessions truly get you to think outside the box about solving challenges. The event’s most unique feature is the Dynamic Design Groups (DDG), which enable attendees to collaborate in whole new ways. After the event, outputs are compiled into an Idea Book to share concepts further with people interested in driving change in engineering education.

Can you think of a specific experience from the GEDC Industry Forum that you carried forward?

During the 2020 online event, I led a DDG focused on a new education model, the Transformational Educational Academy. The previous year, I'd been part of a DDG talking about alternative credentials, which is tightly linked and woven into our new education model. At the end of the GEDC Industry Forum, our idea was voted the most important idea to be taken forward.

Follow-up happened in several ways. The GEDC facilitated a dynamic dialogue webinar that brought together industry and academia leaders to address corporate learning, alternative and complementary certification. At Siemens, we were driven by our desire to dive deeper into developing a roadmap for the new education model. We worked with industry analyst Tech-Clarity who interviewed deans, academic executives and industry leaders worldwide (many of whom we met through the Forum). They published a Skills Gap in the Age of Digitalization eBook with insights that came from discussions both at and after the GEDC Industry Forum and other experiences, like the pandemic.  

The GEDC Industry Forum also encouraged me to launch the Innovation in the Classroom podcast. I interview people I met at the GEDC Industry Forum who inspire and challenge me to think differently. There are so many great voices, such as Ishwar Puri and Şirin Tekinay, that we interviewed to share their insights with a much broader audience and help us all learn.

Furthermore, as a technology provider, we have really increased our offerings of curriculum, credentials, certificates and badges based on the feedback we got from Forum participants. We work with both academic leaders as well as accreditation bodies like ABET so that we can help provide future direction on a new education model.

We learn so much at each Forum and meet key stakeholders to collaborate on what happens next. We come back to the GEDC Industry Forum year after year because we find it so valuable. There’s also a sense of accountability to return—we all move the needle a little bit on each of these topics and following-up is a really valuable part of this community this event brings you in to.

Siemens is one of the sponsors for the 2021 GEDC Industry Forum. Why did you decide to make a deeper investment in this event?

At Siemens, we want to support efforts like this because it brings industry and academia together to drive change that is transforming engineering education in a unique and impactful way—whether it’s in-person, online, or hybrid. The GEDC Industry Forum has helped us crystalize a focus on meeting learners where they are and helping traditional engineering programs evolve. It’s also provided the means to look at the ways we need to serve those learners—in and out of the traditional classroom. Looking at credentialing models and platforms allows for more open access, particularly for a more diverse population. The GEDC Industry Forum has really widened our view and we want to support this opportunity in any way we can.

Why should industry stakeholders or engineering deans participate in the September GEDC Industry Forum?

I would encourage any industry leader who is engaged with academia and any academic leader that wants to be at the forefront of engineering education to participate. The GEDC Industry Forum is where the pioneers and thought leaders in engineering education come together to gain insight and drive change. If you have any stake in this revolution, this is where you want to be. I really feel that this is where change is being defined and is unlike any other event that we are a part of.