INTEGRATING STANDARDS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT AND RESILIENCE IN UNIVERSITY CURRICULA

INTEGRATING STANDARDS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT AND RESILIENCE IN UNIVERSITY CURRICULA
Lisa L. Greenwood, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States of America / Yewande S. Abraham, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States of America / Sumita Mishra, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States of America / Jennifer L. Schneider, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States of America / Shriram Karpoora Pandian, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States of America
(Presented at the International Conference on Social and Education Sciences (IConSES), which took place on October 17-20, 2024 in Chicago, USA. (www.istes.org/..., and at the nternational Conference on Engineering, Science and Technology (IConEST) (www.istes.org/...) organized by the International Society for Technology, Education and Science (ISTES) www.istes.org).
In today’s ever-changing world, we are increasingly vulnerable to shocks and stresses that can disrupt industry and society. Persistent threats and impacts arising from natural and manmade hazards require infrastructure and our communities to be resilient despite possible disruption.A key tenet of creating robust infrastructures includes integration of operational and physical standards to withstand and respond to legacy and evolving threats, such as environmental exposures, informational security, and climate change. The significant investment in infrastructure projects in the United States through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has amplified the need for professionals in engineering, construction, health and safety, computer science, and related fields who - in addition to technical knowledge - possess the necessary knowledge and skill to identify and apply national and international consensus standards relevant to their work. Today’s university students are tomorrow’s professional workforce leaders, and their skillset must include standards literacy to create the resilience we need. Our research focused on integrating standards for infrastructure improvement and resilience into both graduate and undergraduate curricula at a large private university in the Northeastern United States. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a modular approach tointroduce students in civil engineering, construction management, environmental sustainability, health and safety, computer science, and cybersecurity to national and international standards related to infrastructure improvement and resilience;andguided studentsto identify and apply relevant standards across their domains. Standards-based curriculum is essential for preparing tomorrow’s professionals with the skills to lead and support infrastructure improvement and resilience efforts as the U.S. seeks to make our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to these broad threats.