Page 183 - 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

166 EDUCATING THE ENGINEER OF 2020

puters) is morphing into a new services sector—financial services, manu-
facturing services, McDonald’s hamburger services. Paul Horn is asking
himself if a services science is about to emerge. I don’t know if a new
discipline is about to appear, but if it does, it will be a subset of the new
systems engineering.
I referred to homeland security as the Mother of All Systems Prob-
lems, but there is an even greater, and ultimately more important sys-
tems problem—that is the “sustainable development” of human societ-
ies on this system of ultimate complexity and fragility we call Earth. In
Europe, sustainable development, ill defined though it may be, is part
of the everyday work of industry and politicians and a common element
in political rhetoric—and rhetoric is a start. I am troubled that sustain-
able development is not even on the radar screen in the United States,
let alone on the tongues of presidential contenders. Nevertheless, sus-
tainable development must be on our agenda as we prepare the engi-
neers of 2020.

DELIVERY AND PEDAGOGY
So far, I have suggested that engineering students prepared for 2020
and beyond must be excited by their freshman year; must have an un-
derstanding of what engineers actually do; must write and communi-
cate well; must appreciate and draw on the full richness of American
diversity; must think clearly about ethics and social responsibility; must
be adept at product development and high-quality manufacturing; must
know how to merge the physical, life, and information sciences when
working at the micro- and nanoscales; must know how to conceive,
design, and operate engineering systems of great complexity. They must
also work within a framework of sustainable development, be creative
and innovative; understand business and organizations, and be prepared
to live and work as global citizens. That is a tall order . . . perhaps even
an impossible order.
But is it really? I meet kids in the hallways of MIT who can do all of
these things—and more. So we must keep our sights high. But how are
we going to accomplish all this teaching and learning? What has stayed
constant, and what needs to be changed?
One constant is the need for a sound basis of science, engineering
principles, and analytical capabilities. In my view, a strong base of fun-
damentals is still the most important thing we provide, because we re-

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