Page 13 - Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
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xii PREFACE

exciting period in human history for science and engineering. The explo-
sive advances in knowledge, instrumentation, communication, and com-
putational capabilities create a mind-boggling playing field for the next
generation. . . . As we think about the plethora of challenges, it is impor-
tant, in my view, to remember that students are driven by passion, curios-
ity, engagement, and dreams. . . . Despite our best efforts to plan their
education, to a large extent we simply help to wind them up, and then step
back to watch the amazing results.” Gretchen Kalonji, professor of materi-
als science and engineering at the University of Washington, expanded on
Vest’s desire to engage the passion and curiosity of students stating that
“[a]s we move forward, I think we need to undertake a far more bold
reformulation of engineering education. Bluntly speaking, with existing
models, we are losing the battle for the imagination of our youth. . . .
What I would argue for is a dramatic and fundamental transformation of
the educational process.”
Originated and chartered by the Committee on Engineering Educa-
tion of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Engineer of 2020
Project consists of two parts, the first related to the development of a vision
for engineering and the work of the engineer in 2020. A report of the first
phase was published in the spring of 2004. The second part, the subject of
this report, is to examine engineering education, in the broadest context,
and ask what it needs to do to enrich the education of engineers who will
practice in 2020. This initiative is not unique in that other groups have
somewhat similar efforts under way or have recently completed them. The
work of NAE differs in that it considers the issues with respect to all the
diverse branches of engineering and examines them from the broadest pos-
sible perspective. Its principal focus is on the future of undergraduate engi-
neering education in this country, although it is appreciated that to under-
stand the full perspective, engineering practice and engineering education
must be considered within a global context.
A Steering Committee for the Phase II project was established in Feb-
ruary 2004 by the NAE president to guide the work. The committee met
in July 2004, coincident with the Summit on Engineering Education,
which was held at the National Academies’ Constitution Avenue location
in Washington, D.C., attended by approximately 100 participants. As back-
ground information for the summit, a series of papers was prepared by
education experts on a variety of subjects, including cooperative education,
the National Science Foundation engineering education coalitions, the Olin
College experience, diversity, the Greenfield Coalition, the Pedagogies of

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