Global transformation processes and sustainability issues lead to a rapid increase in problems at the boundary between technical and non-technical disciplines in higher education. Furthermore, new fields of work emerge due to the digital transformation. Graduates need to be prepared to identify and describe problems and to develop appropriate solutions in teams in order to contribute to change processes related to the future in a smart world. Engineering sciences have to takeup the challenge to provide suitable educational programs for a broader target group, i.e. non-technical students, especially in light of the current shortage of qualified specialists. This papercontributes twofold to that discourse; (1) by a novel theory-based teaching and learning conceptfor an engineering course for bachelor students of non-engineering disciplines (e.g. sustainabilitysciences) and associated empirical findings of implementation, and (2) by innovative project-basedlaboratory experiments that encourage interdisciplinary approaches. As a specific contribution tothe innovative practice of engineering education, part (1) outlines the student-centered lecturescheme ”Electrical and Automation Engineering” (four semester hours per week). The framework-based development, the objectives and the didactic design of the bachelor course as well as theengineering key topics in the context of smart technologies and sustainability are presented. Part(2) details novel practices in the area of engineering education by two specially designed lab exper-iments. Starting from the theory framework, the paper contributes to a theoretical understandingand educational practice of engineering courses designed for a specific group of students at thecrossroads of engineering and other disciplines.