Glossary

Authors

Gillian Saunders-Smits
Department of Cognitive Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2905-864X
Lynn Van den Broeck
Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6276-7501
Esther Perea Borobio
Business Department, School of Business, Management and Commerce, Ravensbourne University, United Kingdom
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2107-5867
Thies Johannsen
Institute of Machinery System Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4290-7618

Synopsis

This chapter contains an alphabetical overview of all relevant terms and abbreviations used in the SEFI handbook for teaching transferable competencies and skills in engineering, their definitions, and where possible, their source, explained within a European education context. It aims to aid the reader in quickly accessing definitions for the most important terms used in this handbook. 

Author Biographies

Gillian Saunders-Smits, Department of Cognitive Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

Gillian Saunders-Smits is a Senior Lecturer at the Cognitive Robotics Department in Mechanical Engineering at Delft University of Technology. She holds a MSc in Aerospace Engineering and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering Education from the same institute. She has extensive teaching experience in engineering and broad experience in curriculum development and educational leadership in aerospace and robotics. Gillian is passionate about online and open education and has developed several MOOCs and Open Educational Resources. Her research interests include engineering education, notably: curriculum development and evaluation, competencies and skills in engineering, preparation for labour market, inclusive education, and online learning. She was recently appointed TU Delft Education Fellow.

Lynn Van den Broeck, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium

Lynn Van den Broeck is a postdoc at the Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven. She holds a MSc in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in engineering education from the same institute. She is closely involved in education and, more specifically, the inclusion of professional competencies in the study programme. In addition, she is responsible for educational professionalisation and teaching assistant training. She is the chair of the study career guidance theme within LESEC, co-chair of SIG Engineering skills at SEFI. Her research interests focus on study guidance, effectiveness and efficiency of educational interventions, LLL and professional competencies, and feedback. 

Esther Perea Borobio, Business Department, School of Business, Management and Commerce, Ravensbourne University, United Kingdom

Borobio, Esther Perea (0000-0002-2107-5867) is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Management at Ravensbourne University London, with 10 years’ industrial experience and over 20 years’ experience teaching professional competencies, engineering design and project management. Her research focuses on curriculum and module design to embed professional competencies in engineering courses using active learning pedagogies.   

Thies Johannsen, Institute of Machinery System Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

Thies Johannsen of TU Berlin teaches and works in the span between humanities, arts, and social sciences on the one end and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics on the other. His research focuses on competences for innovation along with knowledge and technology transfer. After working on various research projects and in research administration, he has developed and coordinated cooperative education programs with practical partners from business and public administration.

Published

August 26, 2026

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Saunders-Smits, G., Van den Broeck, L., Borobio, E. P., & Johannsen, T. (2026). Glossary. In SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering (pp. 923-943). TU Delft OPEN Books. https://doi.org/10.59490/mt.266.90