Embedding transversal and societal skills in aerospace engineering programme

Abstract

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft is currently reviewing its Bachelor curriculum in response to several interrelated developments. These include changes in the educational landscape, such as the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability, the shifting balance between content knowledge and skills, evolving assessment practices, and an increased emphasis on student-centred learning. At the same time, the aerospace sector itself is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by the need for sustainable innovation and the growing importance of software, data, AI and sustainability. In addition, changes in the demand and capacity landscape, including skills-based educational needs, accessibility and inclusion, diversity, and rising student numbers, call for a reevaluation of the curriculum. This paper focuses on strengthening the transversal and societal skill set of Bachelor Aerospace Engineering graduates by making these skills explicit, visible, and coherently embedded throughout the curriculum. A learning-line approach was adopted to structure the development of skills such as teamwork, ethical reasoning, learning from failure, and diversity and inclusion alongside technical content. The paper compares how these skills are addressed in the current and revised curricula and presents a concrete implementation example from the first week of the programme, called Aerospace Ground School. The paper concludes with reflections and recommendations for engineering programmes seeking to systematically embed transversal and societal skills without overloading the curriculum.