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This Work-In-Progress (WIP) paper describes a core engineering course series that has been developed by the University of South Florida (USF) Electrical Engineering (EE) Department that seeks to provide a comprehensive approach to prepare engineering students for their professional careers and improve student retention. The required Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE) course is offered as a series of three 1-credit courses, which span the Sophomore/Junior years, and provide a bridge between a Foundations of Engineering course, which is required for all USF Engineering Freshman students and two required senior-level EE Capstone Design courses. The purpose of this paper is to share content information and lessons learnt on the PFE course series model, and how the course helps students develop critical competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), engage with engineering industry representatives, researchers, and faculty, and understand engineering ethics from a practical/professional perspective. The theory of action-state orientation is utilized. Research demonstrates that action-oriented college students attain higher grade point averages and engage in more extracurricular activities than state-oriented students. In the PFE course series, students create and maintain a personalized undergraduate career roadmap using experiential learning activities. Students set goals, and track and assess their individual progress to achieving those goals. They use Risk Management processes to resolve ethical case studies and demonstrate real-time critical thinking and problemsolving skills during a mock Senate Ethics Hearing. Students also choose technical areas to research, and work in groups to develop research proposals, patent applications, and business plans. As a result, students learn to apply ethical perspectives and consider the full implications of unethical practices, develop valuable professional competencies, communicate with a diverse set of stakeholders and audiences, and identify a technical area of interest and work as a group to create and present a technology development proposal and business plan that meets a community need. The assignments and projects in the PFE course series directly address ABET Outcomes 4 and 5. The professional development and experiential learning activities required by the course series provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate proficiency in other ABET Outcomes as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary society characterized by inter/multi/trans-disciplinary, globalization, multiculturalism, connectivity, continuous change, complexity, and the rapid advance of science and technology, generate new challenges in the ethical formation of future engineers. Although the education of engineering students has made advances in curricular, pedagogical and didactical areas with the support of new technologies, ethical training has not significantly advance at the educational level. It requires a new pedagogical framework that facilitates engineering faculty to innovate in the teaching and learning processes of ethics training that will enable new generations of engineers to adapt to the socio-cultural, technological demands and dynamics of the 21st century. This paper highlights innovative processes in the ethics formation of engineers from the inter/multi/trans-disciplinary perspective based on new fundamentals that integrate Research & Development and Education (R+D+E). In addition, this paper shows the pedagogical foundations of the processes of teaching and learning for the formation of engineering students in ethics and its relationship with the Integral Formation of the Engineer based on fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience and adaptive complex systems. The proposed framework for ethics training, allows for a contextualized and meaningful learning model for new engineers favoring the inter/multi/trans-disciplinary with the development of social and cross-cultural skills, emotional intelligence, social and ethical responsibility, adaptive leadership, creativity & innovation, critical thinking & resolution of complex problems, communication & collaboration skills, team work, global awareness, environmental cognizance, flexibility & adaptability, resourcefulness, citizenship competencies, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]