Planning: IUSE/PFE: RED Planning: Strengthening Next-Generation Civil Engineers in the Gulf Coast Region

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated technologies is dramatically reshaping the engineering profession, requiring a new generation of leaders who can bridge the gap between technical innovation and regional resilience. This project will establish a comprehensive planning initiative at the University of South Alabama to revolutionize civil engineering education, directly aligning with the NSF’s Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) framework. By modernizing academic pathways to integrate high-demand skills like AI and advanced manufacturing with foundational engineering principles, the project will ensure that future graduates are uniquely prepared to lead the multidisciplinary workforce. Serving the national interest and the core NSF mission, this initiative will drive economic revitalization and enhance public welfare by training highly skilled workforce capable of designing sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure. Ultimately, this project will address critical educational gaps in an EPSCoR state and establish a scalable model for how higher education institutions can adapt their curricula to protect vulnerable coastal communities and bolster national security against intensifying natural hazards. This IUSE/PFE: RED Planning project will establish a systematic, structurally informed framework to transform the Department of Civil, Coastal, and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Alabama (USA) into a highly integrated, multidisciplinary ecosystem. Guided by Complexity Leadership Theory (CLT) and utilizing Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodologies, the project will engage 11 faculty members, 200 undergraduate students, and 30 graduate students to co-create a modernized “future-ready” graduate profile. The scope of this planning grant focuses on investigating how traditional civil engineering silos can be bridged to embed core competencies in AI integration, advanced manufacturing, construction management, and socio-technical analysis into coastal resilience strategies. Key research questions will examine the organizational mechanisms required to foster enabling leadership spaces within an R2 institution transitioning to R1 status, and how “nature-hazard-aware” design principles can be systematically mapped to curriculum development. Through strategic partnerships with regional industry stakeholders and advisory board members, the project will deliver a finalized curricular roadmap, validated survey instruments for tracking faculty and student cultural shifts, and a rigorous strategic plan for sustainable institutional transformation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.