Each year, during National Engineers Week, we celebrate the people and ideas shaping our world through engineering. This year’s theme, “Transform Your Future,” highlights how creativity, problem-solving, and innovation can help students design solutions for tomorrow.

At the heart of engineering is a powerful process called design thinking—a way of approaching challenges by asking questions, testing ideas, and improving solutions over time. While design thinking is often connected to engineering and technology, it is a skill that appears across many subjects and careers.

What Is Design Thinking?

Design thinking is a structured way to solve problems. Engineers often follow steps such as:

1. Identify a problem

2. Brainstorm possible solutions

3. Create a prototype or model

4. Test the idea

5. Improve the design

This process encourages creativity, collaboration, and persistence. Students learn that mistakes are part of learning and that the best solutions often come after several attempts.

Design Thinking Across the Classroom

Although design thinking is closely tied to engineering, it is used in many other areas of learning.

Art and Graphic Design
Artists and designers constantly experiment with ideas, create drafts, and refine their work to communicate a message or solve visual problems.

Business and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs use design thinking to create new products, improve customer experiences, and develop innovative solutions for real-world needs.

Healthcare
Medical professionals and researchers use design thinking to improve patient care, develop medical devices, and solve complex health challenges.

Computer Science and Technology
Programmers design, test, and improve software solutions—often revising their code multiple times to solve a problem effectively.

Construction and Skilled Trades
Carpenters, electricians, and builders use design thinking when planning projects, solving structural challenges, and adapting plans during construction.

These examples show that design thinking is a life skill, not just an engineering skill.

Design thinking is already happening every day in our district’s Career and Technical Education programs. In engineering, construction, computer science, and STEAM classrooms, students learn to solve real problems by designing, building, testing, and improving their work—just like professional engineers. Whether students are creating structural models, programming technology, or planning construction projects, they are practicing the same critical thinking skills used in industries across the country. These hands-on learning experiences help students build confidence, creativity, and career-ready skills while exploring high-demand career pathways. By connecting classroom learning with real-world challenges, CTE programs are helping students discover how they can design solutions—and futures—of their own.

A Pioneer in Engineering: Mary Jackson

As we celebrate innovation, it is also important to recognize the leaders who paved the way for others. One of those pioneers is Mary Jackson, NASA’s first Black female engineer.

Jackson began her career in the 1950s at NASA, working as a mathematician before becoming an aerospace engineer. Her work focused on improving aircraft performance through wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic research.

During a time when opportunities for women—especially women of color—were limited, Jackson continued to push forward. Her determination helped open doors for future generations of engineers. Jackson later became a leader in helping women and minorities advance within NASA, ensuring more voices could contribute to innovation.

Her story reminds us that representation matters. When students see leaders who overcame barriers, they can better imagine themselves in those roles.

Engineering the Future

Engineering touches nearly every part of our daily lives—from the bridges we drive on to the technology we use each day. By learning design thinking skills in school, students gain tools that will help them succeed in many different careers.

During Engineering Week and Women’s History Month, we celebrate innovators like Mary Jackson and encourage the next generation of problem-solvers to imagine how they might transform the future.