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Is it Time For Engineering Education Reform?

October 25, 2007  |  from From the Top

At one time, engineers were esteemed by the public as both visionaries and leaders in a noble profession essential to the welfare of humankind. Today, though, engineers are viewed by many simply as mere advisors and technicians. The public’s perception of the engineer is on a downward spiral, along with the enrollment of young people into our engineering schools. Engineers are facing critical challenges and questions by the public in light of the recent bridge collapses in Minnesota and Vietnam and lingering issues with natural disasters such as Katrina and aging levees. While the issue may be in the hands of politicians and funding availability, confusion exists in the public eye as to who should have done what and when as well as where were the engineers? I challenge our profession that this situation must change and that the means to do so is in our hands and no one else.

Over the upcoming weeks, I will be sharing with you my views from my new book The 21st Century Engineer-A Proposal for Engineering Education Reform (available from ASCE Press pubsful@asce.org) that will be released November 2 at the ASCE annual convention in Orlando, Florida. In my book, I have vividly painted what the new global business landscape of today looks like. Megaprojects, sustainability, aging infrastructure, aging populations, increasing natural disasters, infrastructure security and multinational work teams pose huge challenges. Tomorrow's engineers will not be prepared. Based on discussions I have had with business executives from all around the world, discussions with engineering college students, research that I have conducted since I was President of ASCE and for my doctorate --including visits to over 50 universities in the United States and North America as well as several universities throughout Asia and Europe--I have concluded that the engineering education of today simply does not prepare engineers to work in the 21st Century.

It is time for sweeping changes to the current engineering curriculum. To produce more well-rounded individuals, schools must introduce students to the subjects of communication, public policy, ethics and professionalism and leadership. To strengthen engineering skills, the education system should provide courses in globalization, project management, risk management and dispute resolution. After debating the issue for almost two centuries, it is time to institute the master’s degree as the first professional engineering degree and thus I have proposed in my book a new master’s degree in professional engineering management. I offer suggestions of how this degree can be structured and how industry and academia can collaborate to produce engineers that will help both teach our engineers of the future as well as educate those as to how become true leaders in a profession.

If engineers are to compete successfully and establish themselves as leaders in solving many of the world’s most pressing problems, they must embrace the need for professional innovation and they must do so quickly. They must understand that long-established methods of practicing engineering and educating engineers are in critical need of reform, and they must understand that they must act decisively within the next several years to ensure that these reforms are adequately formulated and implemented.

Now is time to take action and enhance the engineer’s skills. Now is the time to reform engineering education--for those who are bold enough to do so. This not only means practicing professionals but academia--who are reluctant to change. Tenured professors seldom vote for change and seldom can be forced to do so. Young professors tend to resist change for fear that they will not receive tenure. Thus, we have the vicious cycle and a cycle that unless we take immediate action will bring the engineering profession as we know it to merely technicians. As Abraham Lincoln once said “We have to fight this battle upon principle, and upon principle alone…So I hope those with whom I am surrounded have principle enough to nerve themselves for the task, and leave nothing undone that can be fairly done to bring about the right result.”

Filed: Construction-Training Construction-Workforce Design-Engineering