IGEN - General Engineering

The program of General Engineer was created to receive students concerned with engineering studies but interested in shaping a broader outlook thereof, before making any decision about one of its disciplines. The decision-making process should not be hastened and must be based in the knowledge of all the disciplines offered by Universidad de los Andes and the scope created by the student during the semester. The Introduction to General Engineering Course is expected to provide the student with the necessary tools to make the best decision. Thereby, the objectives of this course are: 1) to introduce students to Uniandes campus life, 2) to develop written and oral communication and teamwork skills,  and 3) to offer a general program of all the Engineering disciplines offered by the University.

This course actively presents the core theoretical elements relevant to technology studies. The concepts included in the program allowed analyzing the role of human and non-human agents in technological development. The participants are involved in a simulation of a socio-technical dispute in the Colombian context. This course provides the student with an approach to studying the links between technological change and social construction within the Colombian context. The course can be categorized as belonging to the academic field internationally known as Science, Technology and Society (STS) devoted to the study of social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of technology. It is given by professors of the Technology and Society Group– http://tecnologiaysociedad.uniandes.edu.co -  made up by the Schools of Engineering, Social Sciences and the CIDER. The program includes a general theoretical component developed through a practical methodology, based on the simulation of socio-technical disputes related to Colombian technological systems. The objectives of this course are: approaching the theoretical currents dealing with the study of technological change processes and society building, knowing the organization, current situations and tensions involved in the dynamics of change in two Colombian technological systems, developing a critical capacity with respect to the analysis, design and construction of technological systems within the Colombian background.

This course is intended to identify and discuss the links between globalization, technology and politics that drive questions to ponder over the complex processes that affect the country and its professionals in the contemporary world. http://tecnologyaysociedad.uniandes.edu.co. The course is part of a research program aimed to critically understand technological development and it is targeted to deepen and enrich our current concept about technology through the application of knowledge about historic problems and topics.

Technology is essential to our current activities, however, very little is known about its forces, dynamics and effects, as well as its relation with other social domains. This course explores different theoretical models about the nature of technology, its historical development and relation to the societies. Students will review technology as a set of practices, symbols and devices inseparable from their social, cultural, political and economic contexts. This approach is intended to understand the complex interaction between the technological revolutions and breakthroughs and change in the respective societies. This course also explores different theoretical models about the nature of technology and its historical development through practical in-class activities. Likewise, it includes a research exercise on meaningful aspects of technology history chosen according to the participant’s interest and affiliations. http://tecnologiaysociedad.uniandes.edu.co. The course is part of the research program aimed to critically understand technological development and intends to deepen and enrich our concept of technology, by knowing about its historic background of problems and issues. The specific objectives are: to understand and define the main theoretical proposals about the historic analysis of technology, to devise and develop a group project on a given aspect of the history of technology, using the theoretical tools and approaches addressed in the course.