Fostering Engineering Education 4.0 Paradigm Facing the Pandemic and VUCA World

Abstract

These days, companies including Higher Education Institutions can no longer afford not to be innovative. They have to react with 4.0 concepts to secure their own existence. A future university graduate must easily cope with the requirements and skills of Industry 4.0, such as agile mindset, curiosity, reflection (in/on action), innovation, creativity, leadership, technology knowledge Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods, and AI-supported decision making. How exactly can Higher Education benefit from these approaches? This paper presents the paradigm shift in Engineering Education 4.0, considering high levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Therefore, the paper proposes a future-ready Curriculum 4.0 for Industry 4.0 and a new mindset from content to context, from delivery to co-creation, and from training to business impact.