GEDC Diversity Award

• Gain global visibility to propel your initiative further. Promote your initiative globally and generate support to expand your impact.
• Inspire others to replicate your successful initiative. Showcase your activities. Make scalable changes.
• Expand your network and be part of a dedicated community. Network with leaders in academia and industry who are committed to improving diversity in engineering education. 
• Make an impact in engineering education worldwide. Work together with the Global Engineering Deans Council to increase diversity among the global community of engineers so that the engineering field reflects the diversity of communities it supports.
• Further your project with a $2,500 cash prize. The winning project's representative will also receive free registration to the World Engineering Education Forum 2024 in Sydney, Australia, with a sponsored hotel (3 nights) and economy travel stipend. 

We are looking for entries from innovative projects that have delivered tangible results in

encouraging diversity in engineering education among students and/or graduates.

The award will be given to the project which will:

1.  Have the most impact – relative to the resources available – to encourage more diverse students to study and succeed in engineering.

2.  Lead to a measurable increase in the diversity of the engineering student or graduate body.

3.  Have the potential to become a mechanism for ongoing and scalable change. A project which has not yet generated measurable results would not be eligible.

The 2024 GEDC Diversity Award is sponsored by multiple GEDC Deans and their institutions.

• Individuals or teams working with or in an engineering faculty, or a school or college of engineering (including Information Technology).
• The entry should come from a university representative, even if other organizations, including private businesses, are involved in or support the project in some way.
• Students are eligible to make award entries, as long as their project is supported by a dean of engineering as per any other entry.
• One main point of contact (POC) is required for each entry. This person should complete their details within the entry form. The POC will be contacted to provide additional supporting information and referees if needed.
• If the entry is selected as one of three (3) finalists, the point of contact (POC) will be invited to present to the jury and attend the award ceremony or nominate a replacement to do so.
• A dean may be part of the project team mentioned but may not submit an entry themselves.
• All entries require a supporting letter from a dean of engineering. See GEDC website and bylaw III for a description of an engineering dean. Note, if the engineering dean is part of the project team, we would like the supporting letter to come from a senior representative of the institution involved (e.g. provost, president, vice-chancellor, or rector). The same dean or senior representative can support more than one project.
• When completing the entry form, please keep in mind that the aim of the award is to recognize specific successful initiatives rather than a history or career of work in this field, however admirable.
• Projects submitted for the award should not have been previously recognized at an international level.
• If the project submitted for the award was part of a previous entry, the entry form should state what is different in the 2024 entry. Previous GEDC Diversity Award winners should wait at least one year before submitting a new entry.

• Complete your registration for the award before the entry deadline on 1 September 2024.
• The Award Committee will review the project summary provided at the time of registration to check the eligibility of your project.
• Please review the entry questions before logging in and entering your responses online.
• Completed entries should be submitted by 11:59 am (GMT) on 1 September 2024, online via the online submission form.
• Entries can include written text and photos that highlight the project.
• All entries must be supported by a dean of engineering or by a senior representative of the institution involved (e.g. provost, president, vice-chancellor, or rector).
• Brief resume details for the project representative should be included as part of the submission.
• Two references should be included within the submission. One who can validate the material provided about the project and another who should be a character reference for the project representative.

We encourage potential entrants to review the entry form to fully understand what the the award qualifications are evaluated on. This includes:

• Description of the initiative(s), including the origin, approach, implementation, and stakeholder involvement.
• Documented evidence of what was actually done.
• A clear explanation of the roles of the project representative and any team members.
• Impact of the project, relative to the resources available with qualitative and quantitative examples of how the impact has been measured.
• Transferability, including how the project could be leveraged for greater scope or reach, or transferred for use in another environment.
• Evidence of the potential to continue and develop the work further.

Entries should be submitted by 11:59 am (GMT) on 1 September 2024.
Following the deadline, three (3) projects will be selected based on the evaluation criteria mentioned above by an award committee made up of representatives from GEDC.

• Three of the project finalist’s representatives will be invited to participate in the annual World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) taking place in Sydney, Australia, 2-5 December 2024. *Please note, only one (1) representative of the winning project will receive sponsorship to the event
• Prior to the event, three finalist projects will be presented by their representatives to a distinguished jury who will make the final selection before announcing the winning project.
• The finalists may be asked to provide a very short video to help communicate about their project (this is not part of the evaluation process and guidance on content and form can be provided if needed).
• Following the award announcement, several visibility and dissemination activities will be arranged, with the participation and consent of all finalists, to share good practice and encourage other initiatives supporting diversity in engineering education.
• In addition to the cash prize sponsored by GEDC deans, the winner will receive free registration, hotel compensation for 3 nights, and an economy travel stiped to the WEEF 2024 conference in Sydney, Australia.