GE: What inspired you to become involved in GEDC?

Dean Ochoa: Engineering has always been global, but our universities sometimes are not. That realization was one of my strongest motivations for becoming involved in GEDC. The challenges our graduates will face (e.g., climate change, artificial intelligence, energy transition, inequality, resilient infrastructure, sustainable development) do not carry passports. It makes very little sense, therefore, to educate engineers inside institutional or national bubbles. GEDC has allowed me to meet remarkable people from around the world. We share a passion for engineering education and, ultimately, a conviction that through engineering and through the way we educate engineers, we can help build a better world for everyone. That sense of shared purpose is very special. As Dean of Engineering at Universidad del Norte, I work within an institution deeply connected to students, faculty, research, industry and the development of Colombia’s Caribbean region. As President of ACOFI, I have the opportunity to work with engineering schools across Colombia. That creates a national platform for discussing quality, accreditation, curriculum transformation, faculty development, student success and the future of the profession. Through GEDC, the conversation becomes global 

GE: 13 Years later WEEF is back in Cartagena. What can participants in WEEF 2026 look forward to?

Dean Ochoa: Returning WEEF to Cartagena is not about nostalgia. It is about continuity with ambition. In 2013 we were discussing the things we called the future; and now they have arrived. So, the question for 2026 is not about what engineering education will look like in the future. It is about purpose and whether we are transforming engineering education fast enough to help transform the world. 

The program is intentionally designed around intersections rather than silos. We will discuss artificial intelligence and its impact on the workforce, emerging technologies, engineering assessment, internationalization, sustainability and Peace Engineering. We will engage industry, engineering societies, accreditation organizations, academics and students. And importantly, WEEF 2026 includes dedicated experiences for deans, undergraduate students and doctoral students. Our ambition is for WEEF 2026 to connect technology with humanity, innovation with responsibility, and global thinking with local impact.

I would put five challenges at the center of the conversation: First, AI and the transformation of engineering work. Second, sustainability and global responsibility.Third, mobility and recognition of engineering education. Fourth, access and inclusion. And Fifth, trust and collaboration between universities, industry, government and society. The engineering problems of this century come as team assignments. Unfortunately, humanity occasionally still behaves as if it prefers individual work. Our responsibility as deans is to change that culture.

One reason I am particularly enthusiastic about WEEF 2026 is that it includes a workshop focused specifically on inspiring the next generation of engineers, engineering socializers and hands-on innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean. But attracting students is only half the challenge. We also have to make sure they stay, thrive and see a future for themselves in engineering. Diversity is all -important. I am skeptical of strategies that begin and end with recruitment statistics. Inclusion is not successful when diverse students enter the building. It is successful when they participate fully, graduate, lead, innovate and feel that engineering belongs to them too. That requires mentoring, visible role models, supportive academic environments, awareness of bias, flexible pathways and institutional cultures that treat diversity not as a compliance exercise but as a source of engineering excellence. WEEF’s program deliberately makes space for these questions, including conversations on women and diversity, equity and inclusion in engineering, and a workshop addressing gender bias and micro-aggressions in academia. My view is simple. Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.

GE: Looking forward to WEEF 2026 in Cartagena, of course there is anticipation, excitement, challenge, and hard work. What about enjoyment?

Dean Ochoa: I think that the real magic of WEEF will not exist only in the sessions we have carefully scheduled. It will also happen between them. A formal program can schedule a panel at 10:30. It cannot schedule the conversation at 11:37 in the corridor that becomes a new international partnership or a friendship. It cannot schedule the dance at the gala, the joy of reconnecting with old friends during the opening session, or the idea that emerges over lunch. 

And it certainly cannot predict what might happen over coffee. Which, by the way, brings us back to ACOFI. When I was presenting Cartagena as the host city of WEEF 2026 in Daegu last year, a colleague made me realize that every time I mentioned ACOFI in English, it sounds remarkably close to “A coffee”. So, at WEEF 2026, we will have multiple coffees. And, I hope, even more great conversations. Because conferences are ultimately built around conversations. The formal program creates the opportunity; the coffee often creates the connection. We promised a coffee. My hope is that participants leave WEEF 2026 with three things. New ideas in their notebooks, new friends and collaborators in their phones, and a strong desire to return to Colombia. If we achieve all three, I will consider the experiment successful.

GE: What do you see as the benefits of being an engaged member leader of GEDC?

Dean Ochoa:  You receive much more from GEDC when you stop thinking of it as an organization you belong to and start thinking of it as a community you help build. That human dimension of GEDC should never be underestimated. Of course, the professional value is enormous. Every dean is running experiments in their institutions. GEDC allows us to learn from those experiments collectively. That can save institutions years of trial and error. Also, organizations are sustained by structures, and communities are sustained by relationships. GEDC gives engineering deans a global platform to move beyond institutional management and participate in shaping the future of engineering education itself. At the same time, it gives us something that is increasingly precious in leadership, which is a group of people around the world whom we respect, trust and genuinely enjoy being with. That combination of purpose, friendship and action is extraordinarily powerful. And for me, that is the essence of GEDC.