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It is a long and winding road from invention to innovation. Starting from this observation, this paper presents a historical perspective on the capabilities engineers should possess to do their work. The importance of the ‘communicative competence’ involved in creating a social base for innovation is underpinned. We will present a theoretical framework with regard to engineering and society and argue that this competence requires a good understanding of the social dynamics of technology as well as the ability to communicate on the level of facts, values and emotions. Three particular skills are extensively discussed: orientation on the future and the abilities involved in dialogue and cultural differences. We will argue that engineers can develop this new competence through project learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines three dimensions of professional competence in engineering. It explores the reasons why the reference to the notion of competence seems to be so important in contemporary discourses on engineering education. It also clarifies the question of semantics starting from a statistical analysis of words used by the authors in the issue.