ISTP Intensive Week 2025 |
Industry 4.0 and Future Engineering

  1. Week Objectives
  2. Daily Structure
  3. What's required of you
  4. Grading

     
  5. The Projects + Padlet Structure
  6. Questions + Team Creation

 

  1. 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

 

  1. All start in main classroome for half-day agenda and language activities
    1. Specific tasks to complete each half-day.
  2. Split into groups and multiple rooms for individual research / brainstorming
  3. 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

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?
         
  • 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?

    • ​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?

  • 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?

  • If you refuse to work on a project for ethical reasons, how should you communicate this to your manager or team?

    • 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?

    • Would you be willing to sacrifice career advancement to maintain your ethical principles? Where do you draw the line?

    • Do engineers have a professional responsibility that extends beyond their employer's interests?

  • 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?

    • What specific policies should companies have in place to avoid this situation?

DAY TWO AM Warm-up |

Pre-reading / -listening Vocabulary

DAY TWO AM Warm-up |

Pre-reading / -listening Vocabulary

DAY TWO AM TASK |

Ethics Meeting