The Importance of Soft Skills in Engineering and Engineering Education

This book explores in depth the significance of soft skills within engineering education and the profession of engineering and emphasizes the importance of integrating hard and soft skills effectively, thereby enhancing personal acumen. Among the most important soft skills are ability to communicate, courtesy, creativity, empaty, flexibility, integrity, positivity, problem solving, professionalism, resourcefulness, responsibility, a strong work ethic, and ability to work within a team. While hard skills are related to the left side of the brain and are linked to the intelligence quotient (IQ), soft skills are related to the right side of the brain and are linked to the emotional quotient (EQ). A person who fuses hard and soft skills successfully will be able to upgrade their professional behavior and become a difference maker (DM). Soft skills are of central importance in the context of Engineering 4.0, the new phase of engineering, and in Engineering 4.0 education, and this is the central focus of the book. The presented examples of the role of soft skills will also enable readers to self-evaluate, to identify those skills that require improvement, and ultimately to enhance their performance.