Airbus GEDC Diversity Award

Airbus is a corporate member of the GEDC (Global Engineering Deans Council). This is a leading global organisation whose members are individuals responsible for setting the agenda for higher education in engineering in their countries and universities. 

Based on The American Society for Engineering Education definition, diversity is the inclusion of individuals that represent variations in gender, race, ethnic background, disability, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, nationality and other non-visible differences resulting in an environment rich in intellectual variety and respect for the individual, and optimally suited to address the technological, business and societal needs of the future.

The three finalist projects from Chile, Hong Kong and the USA presented their projects to a Jury of industry experts at the WEEF-GEDC conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

SaviaLab, an engineering outreach initiative developed by a team at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, was selected as the 2018 award winner. Project representatives Gabriela Garcia and Constanza Miranda were presented with the award during a special gala dinner on Tuesday 13th November. An e-book was formally announced by Jean-Brice Dumont, Executive Vice President, Airbus Commercial Aircraft, at the 2018 Diversity Award ceremony.

Japan’s Kyushu Institute of Technology’s BIRDS Satellite Project was selected as the recipient of the 2017 Airbus GEDC Diversity Award, with the Schulich School of Engineering: Discover Engineering Programme at Canada’s University of Calgary and the Women in Engineering (WIE) Programme at the University of New South Wales in Australia as runners up. Taiwo Tejumola from the Kyushu Institute of Technology presented the project to a Jury of industry experts and distinguished guests, as well as 200 international engineering education leaders gathered for the 2017 GEDC Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada. The three finalist projects were evaluated on the basis of the impact of their work, evidence of generating results and the possibility to be scaled-up. For the 2017 Award, 45 entries from 18 countries were submitted.

Airbus and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) named Dr. Yacob Astatke, from Morgan State University in the USA, as the recipient of the 2016 Airbus GEDC Diversity Award for his work in engineering education. The award ceremony took place during the GEDC and World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) conference in Seoul, South Korea. Out of a total of 40 candidates from 17 countries, Dr. Yacob Astatke was selected as the award recipient for his impressive introduction of technology and training initiatives across universities in Ethiopia to improve the delivery of engineering education in Africa. For the past 13 years, he conducted graduate courses, sharing best practice and delivering training. He led the implementation of Mobile Studio Technology and pedagogy in five universities in Ethiopia and has been instrumental in facilitating the donation of equipment and other resources.

Three candidates, from 29 applications worldwide, were selected as finalists for the third Airbus GEDC Diversity Award. On 1 December 2015, Airbus and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) named Professor Fadi Aloul of the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in the United Arab Emirates as the recipient of the 2015 Award for Diversity in Engineering Education. Professor Aloul was selected for his key role in developing a common first-year programme at the AUS, which introduces undergraduate students to the engineering profession, stimulating their critical thinking, creativity and innovation. To date, over 10,000 students from 92 nationalities have taken part, with an average of 35% female students.

Three finalists were selected from over 20 candidates from 12 countries for the 2014 Award. They presented their ideas before a distinguished evaluation committee at the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Dubai. Their selection criteria focused on the measureable success of the initiative, the transferability of the idea and the potential to inspire others.

Marita Cheng was selected as the recipient of the 2014 Airbus GEDC Diversity Award at the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Dubai on 3 December 2014. She received $10,000 to support and develop her work in this field.

The GEDC and Airbus recognized three inspiring finalists in 2013. Over 20 individuals from universities in 12 countries around the world were nominated for their work to increase diversity amongst the global engineering student body. Ana Lazarin from Wichita State University, USA, was announced as the recipient of the award on 21 October at a gala dinner dedicated to diversity in engineering, which took place at the famous Art Institute of Chicago. She was selected for her outreach, recruitment and retention programmes, which resulted in a 91% increase in the number of under-represented minority students and a significant increase in diversity in engineering education at the College of Engineering at Washington State University over the previous 5 years.