Associate ProfessorTom Goldfinch

Engineering has an enormous impact on society, and is fundamentally driven by the needs and wants of people. Despite this, it is often seen as a purely technical profession. Engineering education specialist Dr Tom Goldfinch researches the social and cultural aspects of engineering design and practice, and how they are - and might better be - reflected in engineering education.

"Engineering education needs to be grounded in the realities of engineering practice, which include social expectations and economic and environmental constraints. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that graduate engineers are appropriately prepared for a highly collaborative and complex profession where the technical challenges are often the easiest to resolve and the social and cultural ones are the hardest.

"I am passionate about engineering education that doesn't shield students from the complexities of the real world - where design parameters are constantly moving, technologies are ever evolving, project goals and priorities must be explored and understood, and stakeholders must be identified and relationships formed.

"I became interested in this field when, as a mechanical engineering undergraduate, I became frustrated that while much of my degree was engaging and real-world-focused, many units of study were presented in traditional lecture-and-textbook format, with only a distant connection to the world of engineering practice that I was already familiar with.

"I am particularly passionate about understanding the interactions between engineering and Australian Indigenous cultures. Contemporary Australian engineering methods and practices have largely evolved from European cultural influences. Only recently have other perspectives - including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures - begun to be considered. More needs to be understood about how such alternative worldviews might contribute to the advancement of engineering.

"I've been working in the field of engineering education development and research since the mid-2000s. When I joined the University of Sydney in 2017, the opportunities for collaboration and scaling up of my research were immediately apparent. The University of Sydney is big place and highly connected. Researchers are well supported and presented with many open doors."