Abstract
I was trained as a technically-focused electrical engineer working on control of wind energy systems. Although I enjoyed that work (and still practice in that area), I began to realize that the world’s wicked problems, including climate change – a bit motivator for me – require us to step back and think of large and messy systems sociotechnically. What does that mean, and how does it impact our work as engineering faculty, students, and practitioners? In this seminar, I will answer these questions and connect sociotechnical thinking to concepts of macroethics and justice, as well as describing how sociotechnical thinking can help us to expand our engineering problem definition process so that we can support more sustainable long-term solutions. I’ll share experiences and findings in both the U.S. context and from my sabbatical at the University of Calgary in 2021. These include working with experts across not only various engineering disciplines but learning new skills, language, and norms through in-depth collaborations with social scientists and education specialists. I hope to spark your interests in seeing your work from new and broader perspectives, as well as give some insight into how to act on these new perspectives.
Bio
Kathryn Johnson is a Professor at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and is jointly appointed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). She received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado. She then completed a postdoctoral research assignment at NREL before joining CSM as the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in 2005. Dr. Johnson conducts research in two areas: control of wind and hybrid energy systems and sociotechnical engineering education. Some of her recent projects include control of ultra-scale 25-MW and 50-MW wind turbines, control co-design for novel floating offshore wind turbine structures, and optimization of hybrid energy systems including generation, storage, and end uses. Her engineering education research centers on understanding and promoting macroethics and sociotechnical thinking within engineering education and was recognized in 2021 with a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education award at the University of Calgary, Alberta.
