Interview with Enabling Engineering Faculty Member Waleed Meleis

Contributed by Co-op Matt Goreham

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with faculty member Dr. Waleed Meleis from The College of Engineering to learn more about his course Enabling Engineering. Enabling Engineering is also a student group at Northeastern that focuses on serving those who are disabled or elderly. The students take on projects each semester they feel will make the greatest impact.

When I asked about the student’s reaction to the course, Dr. Meleis had nothing but positive things to say. “The course is filled with students who are committed to helping others. Every week the students write a reflection about their service. I’m incredibly impressed how moved they are [as well as] how inspired they are by the end users that we hear about. They [the students] are really inspired and engaged.” I also wanted to know how service-learning has affected his teaching. He said “This has been a way for me to engage with the community. It has really inspired and enriched my teaching.” He let me know that it was a way for him to make sure what he was teaching was relevant, because students are taking what they learn and bringing it into the communities around us to help those in need.

As the conversation continued I asked Dr. Meleis if he had any tips for other Northeastern faculty members about Service-Learning and the affect it has. He offers “Something I’ve learned myself is that we really have to rethink how our courses are structured. I think there is a real need for courses at the university that break down the barriers of the classroom.” He went on to speak about how he is traveling along with his student to schools in the Northeastern area, “I’m learning along with the students.” Building on this he reflects, “I’m inspired and reinvigorated. I can see that this has really captured the interest of the students. They see that the world around us is so interesting and inspiring and they want to go into it.”

To wrap up the conversation I asked Dr. Meleis if there was anything he would like to add about Enabling Engineering. He summed it up by stating “Enabling Engineering is a really vibrant organization; I encourage people to find ways to get involved either as volunteers in the students group, by taking the course in the spring, or by suggesting end users or partners we can work with.” 

To learn more about Enabling Engineering, visit the website at www.northeastern.edu/enable