Page 177 - Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11338.html

Educating Engineers for 2020 and Beyond

Charles M. Vest
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

I am very pleased to be playing a small role in these important
deliberations about educating the engineer of 2020 and beyond. In his
letter of invitation, Wayne Clough suggested that I explore this topic
“particularly with respect to your extensive experience in higher educa-
tion.” That was probably his way of reminding me that I am approach-
ing graybeard status. But it also gave me a chance to look back over my
35-plus years as an engineering educator. When I did, I realized that
many things have changed remarkably, but others seem not to have
changed at all.
The list of things that have not changed is long—far too long. Is-
sues that are still with us, that have hardly changed during all these
years, are: how to make the freshman year more exciting; how to explain
what engineers actually do; how to improve the writing and communi-
cation skills of engineering graduates; how to bring the richness of
American diversity into the engineering workforce; how to give stu-
dents a basic understanding of business processes; and how to get stu-
dents to think about professional ethics and social responsibility. But
for the most part, change has been astounding. In the past 35 years, we
have moved from slide rules to calculators to PCs to wireless laptops.
Just think of all that implies.
Looking ahead to 2020, a mere 16 years in the future, and setting
goals should be a “piece of cake.” But is it? To gain some perspective,
just look back 16 years and think about what was not going on in 1988.

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