#34 Robyn Mae Paul and Kari Zacharias from Canada on The Iron Ring Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer

Welcome to the first episode of season 6 of the podcast!

The Archimedean Oath, first developed in 1990 and inspired by the Hippocratic Oath, was promoted as a reflection tool during SEFI 2024. Historically, the oath was read and signed at the end of master’s level study and allowed engineers to emphasise their commitment to their institution and global responsibility. Taking an oath was viewed as supporting graduates in making ethical decisions within professional practice. However, societal and environmental needs have since changed, this triggering moves to update both the form and scope of the oath. Similarly, in Canada, the Iron Ring or Ritual of the Calling of an Engineering is a ceremony which engineering graduates traditionally take part in.

In this episode we spoke to Robyn Mae Paul from the University of Calgary and Kari Zacharias from the University of Manitoba who are part of the group ‘Retool the Ring’, whose work focuses on advocating for changes to the ceremony.

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Dr. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the iron ring!

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode

0.58 Podcast Intro

1.20 Experiences with CBL from Natalie and Neil

3.17 Introduction to Robyn and Kari

9.13 Introduction to the Iron Ring

12.12 What is involved in the ceremony

17.45 The obligation

19.47 What are the benefits of the ritual?

22.53 The start of Retool the Ring

32.23 Retool the Ring Activities

40.42 The Iron Ring as establishing, challenging and maintaining boundaries

49.02 The use of exclusionary values and langaguge

56.47 Proposed changes

1:02:26 End of the Iron Ring?

1:05:47 Reactions to the work done by Retool the Ring

1:09: 50 What is next for Retool the Ring

1:13:42 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil

Further Reading

The following links will take you to publications authored by members of the Retool the Ring group.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1177035/full

https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/PCEEA/article/view/17100

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music (c) Lizzie Cooke all rights reserved.

Written and produced by Neil Cooke and Natalie Wint.

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