LAUSR

Abstract Instructors with a diverse mix of industrial and academic experience teach our process design courses. The instructors work in close collaboration with working professional engineers including industrial technical specialists, entrepreneurs, and academic colleagues with an industrial focus. We prepare unique process design projects and advise student teams collectively. Many of the industry advisors are long-term contributors and over time some have become instructors for the design course. Our community of practice offers students a window on engineering design practice and innovation as they transition to the professional community. This paper explores how a community of practice contributes to student development, the achievement of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes, and the development of an innovation ecosystem. By providing targeted direction to industrial participants in a process design course community of practice, we show that the focus of the community and their motivation for participation can be shifted over time from benchmarking competence to innovation competence that also supports student innovation and leadership capacity development.