Change Makers

Change makers in engineering education

A human-centred initiative to support academics in navigating the complexities of curriculum transformation.

A Space for Transformation

Change Makers in Engineering Education is part of a larger nationally funded project under the DHET, Royal Academy of Engineering, and UCDP, forming one of several IEC sub-projects designed to explore innovative strategies for engineering curriculum reform in South Africa.

Developed in 2022 by Prof. Lelanie Smith (Aerospace Engineer, teacher and coach) and Mr. Jaco Fourie (Systemic Transformation Coach), the programme provides a space for academics to collectively and productively navigate the human complexities and tensions they face in their roles as educators.

Where we’ve been

Rolled out since July 2023 following national IEC pilot workshops, Change Makers has now reached a growing and diverse academic audience.

REACH AND ROLLOUT:

	5 National Groups
	2 International Groups
	6 South African Engineering Departments
	2 Engineering Faculty Leaderships
	1 African delegation
	1 Administrative Team
	1 Economic Management Department

What Participants are Saying

A team of researchers, including Prof. Liesel Ebersöhn (Centre for Resilience), analysed 34 interviews from recent participants.

The findings reveal that Change Makers creates a safe, skillfully facilitated space where academics can unpack and share their challenges, gain insight, and re-engage with their work in ways that sustain both individual well-being and institutional progress.

“A refreshing, human-centric take on the journey of an academic.”

“A space where the academics ability to cope with the complexities and tensions are shared by a community and grappled with by skillfully introduced resources from the facilitation team in order to better serve the collective.”

“Community is not a place where it is demanded that I be up and on and cheery and contributing to the common good at every moment at every day, community is a space where I can be held in whichever condition I am, and by being held I am given the space and the grace to find inner resources that can bring me back to life.” – Palmer Parker

Curriculum Transformation Starts with Us

Change Makers reframes what it means to innovate in engineering education.

Transformation doesn’t begin in the curriculum—it begins within us.
The programme highlights how academic identity, personal resilience, and relational depth form the foundation of meaningful, sustainable change in our institutions.

A truly innovative curriculum is rooted in who we are, who our students are, and how we show up to serve them.