Here's how you can equip students with new skills for their future careers.

We are in the middle of the fourth Industrial Revolution right now. Technology is advancing so rapidly that content knowledge is quickly going to be redundant; it won't be necessary to remember lots of facts. The skills associated with being able to locate the appropriate information you need, make judgements on how to apply it creatively and work with others in teams to develop further practice and procedures are going to be ever more important. "Soft skills" are poorly named because there is nothing soft about them, they are fundamental to humanity's continuing existence and for solving twenty first century problems. The more practice we can have of working with others in teams to solve problems, the better.

From the perspective of engineering, I would say, build anything. I’ve seen so many unfortunate errors such as fasteners that are too long and bottom out or too short and can’t engage. Any project where you have to order things and stay on budget also helps. Just because something is twice the price, doesn’t make it twice as good. Aside from being an expert in your specific industry, people value a pragmatic problem solver. During my engineering studies, the biggest lessons I learned was from messing up; not ordering the right parts, parts not fitting together correctly etc etc. When I got to industry, I knew how to avoid many simple pitfalls and this really helped me develop a good reputation as a professional.

To learn new skills I teach my students to never stop learning. I believe every opportunity present itself as a learning experience. To learn more is to be open to seeing things in different perspectives. Learning new skills means you let go of what you know for a moment and understand new concepts. When I teach new skills to my students, I encourage journaling, reflecting, reading and then asking questions about the new skills they have been exposed too. I lead by example as I always tell my staff and students, there is always a better way to do things. Better ways are discovered when you never stop learning and you are open to discovering new skills you may not realize you already possess. Have an open mind. Keep reading.