{"id":1443,"date":"2026-01-28T07:33:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T06:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/?p=1443"},"modified":"2026-01-28T18:58:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:58:15","slug":"dags-att-ladda-om-ingenjorskapet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/2026\/01\/dags-att-ladda-om-ingenjorskapet\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to reboot engineering competence"},"content":{"rendered":"

In English further down.<\/p>\n

Dags att ladda om ingenj\u00f6rskapet<\/h2>\n

Nu har jag varit vice GA i en termin. Det har varit ganska r\u00f6rigt att f\u00e5 koll p\u00e5 alla instanser, arbetsgrupper, n\u00e4mnder, programkontor och kvalitetssystem som l\u00f6per kors och tv\u00e4rs \u2013 p\u00e5 kursniv\u00e5, i utbildningar och i utbildningsutbudet. Allt detta dessutom i en m\u00e4ngd olika dimensioner som h\u00e5llbar utveckling (inklusive j\u00e4mst\u00e4lldhet, m\u00e5ngfald och likabehandling), s\u00f6ktryck, genomstr\u00f6mning, studentservice, studiemilj\u00f6, studentinflytande, \u00e5tg\u00e4rdsplaner, s\u00e4rskild beh\u00f6righet\u2026 ja, listan kan g\u00f6ras l\u00e5ng.<\/p>\n

Jag forskar inom komplexa sociotekniska system, och d\u00e4r \u00e4r det s\u00e4llan tekniken som g\u00f6r n\u00e5got komplext. Det \u00e4r den m\u00e4nskliga komponenten och sociala aspekterna och processerna som styr beteenden hos individer, grupper och organisationer \u2013 som driver komplexiteten. I komplexa sociala och omedg\u00f6rliga problem existerar flera upplevelser av verkligheten samtidigt. I varje gruppering jag deltagit i under h\u00f6sten har alla haft sina egna v\u00e4rldsbilder, vilket \u00e4r helt m\u00e4nskligt. Och det \u00e4r v\u00e4l ocks\u00e5 det som g\u00f6r det kul!<\/p>\n

I min v\u00e4rldsbild saknas \u00e4nd\u00e5 ett par dimensioner i kvalitetsdiskussionerna p\u00e5 KTH. Den f\u00f6rsta \u00e4r: Vad g\u00f6r en ingenj\u00f6r?<\/strong>
\nJag har skapat ett moment i en introduktionskurs i CITEH-programmet med just den titeln. D\u00e4r f\u00e5r teknologerna h\u00e5lla en kort presentation om varf\u00f6r de valde att bli ingenj\u00f6rer, och d\u00e4refter intervjuar de en ingenj\u00f6r och redovisar f\u00f6r gruppen. Det visar sig att ingenj\u00f6rer f\u00f6rst\u00e5s g\u00f6r en m\u00e4ngd olika saker. Men d\u00e5 uppst\u00e5r n\u00e4sta fr\u00e5ga: Vad g\u00f6r en bra ingenj\u00f6r?<\/strong> Och d\u00e5 t\u00e4nker jag inte p\u00e5 arbetsplatsen, utan: vad i v\u00e5ra utbildningar g\u00f6r en ingenj\u00f6r bra?<\/p>\n

Allt det ovan n\u00e4mnda bidrar s\u00e4kert. Men har vi pratat tillr\u00e4ckligt mycket om ingenj\u00f6rsm\u00e4ssighet<\/strong>? Vad betyder det f\u00f6r en ingenj\u00f6r p\u00e5 KTH i stort \u2013 eller p\u00e5 ITM?
\nEn sak studenterna n\u00e4stan alltid fr\u00e5gar de ingenj\u00f6rer de intervjuar \u00e4r om de anv\u00e4nder matten fr\u00e5n utbildningen. Och svaren blir typiskt: \u201cNej, nej\u2026 jag har inte r\u00e4knat sedan sista tentan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nu \u00e4r jag kanske ute p\u00e5 hal is n\u00e4r jag p\u00e5st\u00e5r att matteblocket i v\u00e5ra \u00e4ldsta program i princip sett likadant ut i 100 \u00e5r. Men kanske \u00e4r det dags att kritiskt utv\u00e4rdera hur<\/strong> det integreras i program och kurser? \u00c4r det absolut n\u00f6dv\u00e4ndigt f\u00f6r varje ingenj\u00f6r att ha denna matte? \u00c4r det d\u00e4r vi tr\u00e4nar ingenj\u00f6rsm\u00e4ssighet? Eller har vi detta av n\u00e5got annat relevant sk\u00e4l? \u00c4r det kanske l\u00e4ge att introducera och till\u00e4mpa det p\u00e5 nya s\u00e4tt?<\/p>\n

Den andra dimensionen \u00e4r: Vad \u00e4r kvalitet?<\/strong>
\nDet \u00e5terkommer jag till i ett annat blogginl\u00e4gg.<\/p>\n

Under v\u00e5ren kommer vi att rikta resurser och unders\u00f6ka hur vi kan f\u00f6rst\u00e5 vad vi menar med ingenj\u00f6rsm\u00e4ssighet och hur progressionen ser ut i v\u00e5ra program och kurser. Jag ser framf\u00f6r mig m\u00e5nga v\u00e4rldsbilder \u2013 och sp\u00e4nstiga, konstruktiva och roliga diskussioner!<\/p>\n

\/Pernilla Ulfvengren, vice grundutbildningsansvarig p\u00e5 ITM-skolan<\/p>\n

\n

Time to reboot engineering competence<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve now been Deputy GA for one term. It has been quite a challenge to get an overview of all the committees, working groups, boards, programme offices and quality systems that run in every possible direction \u2013 at course level, across programmes, and throughout the programme portfolio. All of this also spans a wide range of dimensions, such as sustainable development (including gender equality, diversity and equal treatment), application pressure, throughput, student services, study environment, student influence, action plans, specific entry requirements\u2026 the list goes on.<\/p>\n

I conduct research on complex socio\u2011technical systems, and in such systems it is rarely the technology that creates complexity. It is the human component \u2013 the social aspects and processes that shape behaviours among individuals, groups and organisations \u2013 that drives complexity. In complex social and intractable problems, multiple perceptions of reality coexist. In every group I\u2019ve taken part in this autumn, everyone has brought their own worldview, which is entirely human. And in many ways, that\u2019s what makes it fun!<\/p>\n

In my own worldview, however, a couple of dimensions are missing from the quality discussions at KTH. The first is: What does an engineer do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve developed a module in an introductory course in the CITEH programme with exactly that title. The students first give a short presentation on why they chose to become engineers, and then they interview an engineer and report back to the group. Unsurprisingly, engineers do a wide variety of things. But this naturally leads to the next question: What makes a good engineer?<\/strong> And I don\u2019t mean in the workplace, but rather: what elements in our education actually make<\/em> a good engineer?<\/p>\n

All of the aspects mentioned above undoubtedly contribute. But have we talked enough about engineering competence<\/strong>, or ingenj\u00f6rsm\u00e4ssighet<\/em>? What does it mean for an engineer at KTH as a whole \u2013 or within ITM?<\/p>\n

One thing students almost always ask the engineers they interview is whether they use the mathematics from their studies. And the answer is typically: \u201cNo, no\u2026 I haven\u2019t done any calculations since my last exam.\u201d<\/p>\n

I may be stepping out onto thin ice when I say that the mathematics block in our oldest programmes has looked essentially the same for roughly a hundred years. But perhaps it is time to critically evaluate how it is integrated into programmes and courses?\u00a0Is it absolutely necessary for every engineer to have this maths? Is this where we train engineering skills? Or do we have this for some other relevant reason? Is it perhaps time to introduce and apply it in new ways?<\/p>\n

The second dimension is: What is quality?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ll return to that in another blog post.<\/p>\n

During the spring, we will allocate resources and explore how we can better understand what we mean by engineering competence, and how progression is manifested across our programmes and courses. I foresee many different worldviews \u2013 along with lively, constructive and enjoyable discussions!<\/p>\n

\/Pernilla Ulfvengren, Deputy Head of First and Second Cycle Education at ITM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In English further down. Dags att ladda om ingenj\u00f6rskapet Nu har jag varit vice GA i en termin. Det har varit ganska r\u00f6rigt att f\u00e5 koll p\u00e5 alla instanser, arbetsgrupper, n\u00e4mnder, programkontor och kvalitetssystem som l\u00f6per kors och tv\u00e4rs \u2013 p\u00e5 kursniv\u00e5, i utbildningar och i utbildningsutbudet. Allt detta dessutom i en m\u00e4ngd olika dimensioner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1529,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-director-of-first-and-second-cycle-education","category-pernilla-ulfvengren"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6P3xp-nh","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1445,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions\/1445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kth.se\/blogs\/itm-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}