David F. Ollis
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7905, USA
E-mail: ollis@ncsu.edu

Ana Kennedy and Monique Granger
Foreign Languages and Literatures, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7905, USA

Rebecca Brent
Education Designs, Inc, Cary, NC 27518, USA

Abstract:
The ABET EC 2000 criterion requiring that engineering graduates `understand engineering solutions in global and societal context’ has proved problematic to address, because most engineering faculty are neither trained in, nor enthusiastic about including, topics which are logically part of the larger view required of `global and societal context’. We present here our experience in providing `engineering solutions’ in broader contexts, achieved through integration of lecture or laboratory in technology into a foreign language course. We have offered such integrations in three formats: (i) Technology cameos in English, set in a Spanish language course, (ii) Technology cameos in French, set in a French language course, and (iii) Device dissection lab activities executed as part of a Spanish course. We demonstrate that engineering/ foreign language faculty collaboration within such integrated courses formats provides one potential path to introducing `engineering solutions in global and societal contexts’.