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Responding to the calls for teaching "soft skills" within the undergraduate engineering curriculum and for the university to address a perceived decrease in social capital, a programme titled Community Awareness Initiatives Responsibly Directed by Engineers (CAIRDE, an Irish language word meaning "friends") was instituted at the National University of Ireland, Galway. As part of a mandatory module in the Mechanical and Biomedical undergraduate programmes, students carry out self-directed projects involving community action (service) and application of knowledge (students' prior learning). This paper reports on an evaluative research study focussed on understanding the participating students' experiences. Among findings related to students' perceptions as future professionals, students describe a growing awareness of the need for collaboration and the positive value of engagement with the community as knowledgeable end-users of their designs. The paper concludes by suggesting greater integration of this type of pedagogy for civic engagement across the curriculum.

Summary We analysed data from 14,000 patients in the 2013 United Kingdom Anaesthesia Activity Survey of the Fifth National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland to examine anaesthetic, organisational and clinical practice for patients with obesity. We compared practice then with current guidance on management of this patient group. Obesity was reported in 22%, mainly Black, Afro-Caribbean and White Caucasian patients. There was minimal variation in surgical timing, anaesthetic seniority, induction location or day-case procedure rates. As BMI increased above 25 kg m −2 ASA grade rose and there were modest changes in practice towards that recommended for this patient group. Some practice changes were counter-intuitive. When BMI exceeded 35 kg m −2 safety based practice changed markedly. For patients receiving GA there was an increase in immediate (operative) mortality as BMI rose. UK anaesthetic practice in 2013 appears to underestimate patient levels of obesity, does not reflect recent published guidelines for the management of patients with obesity undergoing anaesthesia and, taken with the mortality findings, raises concerns over the reliability of safe management of such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]