Authors
Sofie Craps, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Jeroen Lievens, Engineering Technology Education research (ETHER), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Dimitri Coppens, Research and Education - Educational Development and Study Career Guidance, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium ; Eef Soete, KU Leuven Library, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Bart Van Riet, Research and Education - Educational Development and Study Career Guidance, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium; Dorine Bruneel, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven Campus Ghent, Belgium; Greet Langie, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Synopsis
This chapter presents the design and implementation of an integrated learning path for professional competencies within the engineering technology curriculum at KU Leuven. Responding to industry expectations and educational reforms, the Faculty of Engineering Technology introduced a holistic approach that embeds six clusters of professional competencies — team dynamics, project management, professional communication, innovation and creativity, entrepreneurship, and ethics and society — throughout the bachelor programme. Rather than treating these competencies as add-ons, they are interwoven into authentic engineering experiences that increase in complexity and openness over time, supported by just-in-time seminars, coaching, and structured feedback. Professional engineering identity development serves as the guiding principle of the learning path, fostering students’ awareness of their future roles and talents while strengthening self-reflection and lifelong learning attitudes. Tools such as an e-portfolio and targeted reflection activities support this process. The chapter illustrates the approach through inspirational cases and discusses lessons learned from the multicampus implementation. Student perception data and longitudinal monitoring reveal successes, challenges, and areas for improvement. The contribution concludes with recommendations for sustaining competency development and identity formation across bachelor programmes, offering insights for engineering educators and curriculum designers aiming to integrate transferable skills into engineering curricula.
Author Biographies
Sofie Craps, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Craps, Sofie (0000-0003-2790-2218) is a doctor in Engineering Technology and in Social Sciences at KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research focuses on professional identity development, professional competencies, and inclusion and belonging in engineering education. Since 2021, she chairs the Teacher’s Team Professional Competencies at the Faculty of Engineering Technology.
Jeroen Lievens, Engineering Technology Education research (ETHER), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Lievens, Jeroen (0000-0003-0995-9317) is an Associate Professor at KU Leuven, Campus Diepenbeek, Belgium, and member of Engineering Technology Education Research (ETHER). He teaches communication skills to engineering students. His research focuses on student-driven action research investigating the workplace relevance of communication competencies.
Dimitri Coppens, Research and Education - Educational Development and Study Career Guidance, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Coppens, Dimitri (0009-0003-2532-7878) holds an MSc in Engineering Architecture. He explores the intersections of mathematics, science, technology and art. At KU Leuven Campus Ghent, Belgium, he teaches calculus, algebra, and programming, and supports research groups in technical assistance and design advice. He is faculty expert for the Creativity and Innovation competency cluster.
Eef Soete, KU Leuven Library, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Soete, Eef (0009-0002-8196-4014) is a Librarian at the Library 2Bergen at KU Leuven, Belgium, and faculty expert for information literacy. She develops and monitors learning objectives, including AI literacy, and teaches information literacy and academic writing skills at the KU Leuven campuses Bruges and Ghent.
Bart Van Riet, Research and Education - Educational Development and Study Career Guidance, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Van Riet, Bart (0009-0009-5708-2768) holds a MSc in Chemical Engineering Technology and teaches at KU Leuven, Belgium, Group T Campus. He specialises in team dynamics and project management, organises seminars, and coaches student teams across bachelor programmes in both Dutch and international pathways.
Dorine Bruneel, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven Campus Ghent, Belgium
Bruneel, Dorine (0009-0008-2332-0652) is a Professor in Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering Technology at KU Leuven Campus Ghent, Belgium. She coordinates internships in Chemical Engineering Technology. As Vice Dean Education, she has overseen the implementation of the curriculum reform, including the faculty-wide learning path for professional competencies.
Greet Langie, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Langie, Greet (0000-0002-9061-6727) is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium. She’s a physicist by training and focuses on engineering education research, specifically on the issues surrounding the transitions from secondary education to higher education and from higher education to professional life.
Published
August 26, 2026
Copyright (c) 2026 Gillian Saunders-Smits, Lynn Van den Broeck, Thies Johannsen
How to Cite
Craps, S., Lievens, J., Coppens, D., Soete, E., Van Riet, B., Bruneel, D., & Langie, G. (2026). Teaching and Learning Professional Competencies through an Integrated Learning Path in the Faculty of Engineering Technology at KU Leuven. In
SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering (pp. 627-646). TU Delft OPEN Books.
https://doi.org/10.59490/mt.266.84
