Using systems thinking to understand bio-product commercialization: The chemical engineer's perspective

Graduate students in bioengineering engage stakeholders outside of the academic context on complex problems concerning Canada’s circular bio-economy. Clearer ways to communicate their work’s impact would be beneficial. Systems thinking affords a holistic awareness of influence that can be shared within teams. We introduce approaches for systems thinking to students at a 3-hour extracurricular workshop to explore their research impact. Participants illustrated bio-product commercialization using digital network maps and physical causal loop diagrams in teams of 3-8 people. Volunteer observers recorded notes about student engagement and thinking at a post-workshop reflection that is reported in this paper. A shared understanding was observed in the room when teams independently arrived at similar maps, highlighting technology-agnostic