Adam Wyett PRO
I am an ESL teacher based in Saint Etienne, France. I use Slides to share and present my presentations live while teaching group-classes in lo-tech environments.
ISTP Intensive Week 2025 |
Industry 4.0 and Future Engineering
- Week Objectives
- Daily Structure
- What's required of you
- Grading
- The Projects + Padlet Structure
- Questions + Team Creation
- Day One START
Business Intensive Week |
WELCOME!
- Use English all the time throughout the week
- Run projects as a team, according to brief specifications, in English.
- Research and develop specific topics relevant to your training course, in English
- Develop team-working skills, IN ENGLISH
- Improve spontaneity when speaking and listening, using business and technical English
- Learn C1 language points to put in practice today!
- Be confident independently producing multiple formats of texts (professional emails, reports, etc.)
- Showcase your engineering and creative capabilities responding to briefs.
- Produce and give short professional presentations, run meetings, and compose texts using Professional English
Business Intensive Week |
Language & Secondary Objectives
- 8:15 - 12:15 Morning
- 1:45 - 5:45pm Afternoon
- All start in main classroome for half-day agenda and language activities
- Specific tasks to complete each half-day.
- Split into groups and multiple rooms for individual research / brainstorming
- Meetings to discuss projects, options and advance projects.
- Fixed Schedule but flexible "breaks"
Business Intensive Week |
Daily Structure
- During the week, each half-day has specific objectives and activities relating to the future of engineering and its ethics to complete including:
-
Class Discussions and C1 language training guided by the teacher
- Group tasks:
- Running professional company meetings (1) to develop new industry 4.0 tools or applications, and (2) Ethical issues in your company.
- Developing and giving [very] short presentations (1) of your companies and (2) new industry 4.0 technologies.
- Writing reports and professional emails
- Debating ethical choices and Negotiating outcomes
-
Class Discussions and C1 language training guided by the teacher
Business Intensive Week |
What Are We Doing?
- Group grading for week AND final presentation
(+/- points for individual grading)
-
Continuous assessment of Individuals and the group graded during the week on:
- motivation
- participation (including punctuality)
- team work,
-
use of English
- Written and Spoken texts produced during the week will also count towards the final grade.
- An indication of your CEFR score in writing and speaking may also be given by your teacher, but will not in itself count towards the final grade.
Business Intensive Week |
Grading
Intensive Week |
Padlet, Questions?, Team Creation
DAY ONE AM Warm-up |
Work Changes
- Has your company experienced undergone any major changes during your time there (e.g., new software, restructuring, new policies)?
- Is change generally managed effectively there, or is it communicated poorly with inadequate training and a "deal-with-it-yourself" or "just-make-it-work" attitude?
- Did you feel frustrated or did the changes roll out smoothly?
- Did they improve efficiency or create chaos and more problems than solutions?
- Have you seen any of your colleagues resistant to change or your methods of working? What are their concerns? How could you reassure them?
- If members in your team introduced AI-driven systems and extra layers of automation in your workflow, would you resist this change?
- Consister: quality and consistency, job security, efficiency and productivity, decision-making control, creativity.
Warm-up | Industry 4.0
Your Company: True or False?
- We have implemented -- or plan to implement -- at least one of these Industry 4.0 technologies:
- Internet of Things (IoT) devices or sensors, Cloud computing infrastructure, AI or machine learning applications, Virtual or augmented reality systems,, Digital twins, Advanced cybersecurity measures, Edge computing solutions?
- We need to access paper files to complete some tasks.
- Our company is running both legacy and new systems simultaneously. They are mostly compatible.
- Our technology works seamlessly across multiple sites, enabling us to perform competitively in our market.
- Our company is lagging behind competition in our industry, which is adopting new technological advancements.
- The introduction of new technology has meant a reduction of certain job roles or departments.
- The introduction of new technology means we may be required to work fewer hours, but we would be happy to work flexible hours even if that translates to reduced pay.
- Effective training programmes have been implemented to reskill the workforce for future advancements in industry.
- The company invests heavily in new technology without evaluating its practical value.
Group Task | Industry 4.0
Conceptualising a New Tool / Application
- In groups of 4 or 5, run a meeting to:
- present your companies,
- what tools you currently use in your line of work everyday.
- Discuss current challenges or time-wasting tasks you face in your respective industries
- Identify a specific problem or area which could benefit from a ''futuristic' industry 4.0 innovation or solution
- Brainstorm that solution and how it would work. Consider:
-
Functionality: What will the tool do? How will it solve the
problem? -
Technology: What technologies will it use? (e.g., AI, robotics,
nanotechnology) - Design: What will the tool look like? How will it be used
-
Impact: How will this tool benefit your company / engineers / society in general?
-
Functionality: What will the tool do? How will it solve the
-
Later today, prepare a presentation (5 - 10 minutes, No Powerpoint), as a short sales pitch
- Present the context and concept, its functionality and impact
- Prepare a visual representation of the tool to show during the presentation (sketch, diagram, etc. )
- Prepare to be asked questions by classmates on the its feasibility and real-world implications.
Group Task | Industry 4.0
New Tool / Application Examples
-
Smart Construction Materials: Materials that can self-repair or adapt to environmental changes.
-
AI-Driven Design Software: Software that can autonomously design complex structures.
- Energy Harvesting Devices: Tools that capture and store energy from various sources (solar, kinetic, thermal)
DAY TWO AM Warm-up |
Ethical Dilemmas
- You rely on unpaid interns to perform essential tasks. Is it ethical to continue this practice? (consider: fair compensation, diversity / inclusivity, exploitation, cost savings, talent pipelines)
-
A job is opening in your company and you know a friend who is looking for work. Should you push to hire a family member or friend for a position even if there are better-qualified candidates? (consider: personal connection, trust, meritocracy, team dynamics, transparency)
- The company asks employees to work overtime without pay to meet deadlines. Is this acceptable? (consider: meeting client expectations, cost savings, employee well-being, fair compensation)
-
Sarah, a software engineer, has been asked to modify a self-driving car algorithm to protect passengers over pedestrians in unavoidable accidents. She has refused. Consider: should engineers have the legal right to refuse jobs tasked to them by their employer?
DAY TWO AM Warm-up |
Discussions
-
Do you believe we are born moral, that our behaviour is driven by internal traits, or is it something we learn?
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Which factors do you believe influence our ethical decision making the most? Parenting, the media, societal expectations, economic factors, religion, fear of consequences, empathy, chemicals in our brain?
-
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Have you (or "a friend") ever been asked to complete a task in conflict with your ethical values? What was it? What did you do?
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If you refuse to work on a project for ethical reasons, how should you communicate this to your manager or team?
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Is it better for a person with values to accept unethical work, thereby limiting damage which could be done by another worker with no values?
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Would you be willing to sacrifice career advancement to maintain your ethical principles? Where do you draw the line?
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Do engineers have a professional responsibility that extends beyond their employer's interests?
-
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If you knew that your innovation in engineering, designed to improve lives, could used be in other nefarious projects, would you try to bury or sabotage the project?
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What specific policies should companies have in place to avoid this situation?
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DAY TWO AM Warm-up |
Pre-reading / -listening Vocabulary
DAY TWO AM Warm-up |
Pre-reading / -listening Vocabulary
DAY TWO AM TASK |
Ethics Meeting
ISTP Intensive Week 2025 | Industry 4.0 and Future Engineering
ISTP International Week 2025 | Industry 4.0 and Future Engineering
By Adam Wyett
ISTP International Week 2025 | Industry 4.0 and Future Engineering
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