Page 61 - 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

44 EDUCATING THE ENGINEER OF 2020

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the Diversity in Education Initiative in the city of Los Angeles. Led
by the staff of the Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity,
UCLA faculty engaged with the K-12 system in urban Los Angeles to
build capacity of math and science educators in order to better prepare a
greater number of minority students. The top students from these school
districts are eligible for 1 of 10 HP scholarships that provide the stu-
dents with tuition money, computer equipment, summer internships,
and an industry mentor. The program has experienced great success in
the early years with marked increases in advanced placement course
enrollments in high school, a greater number of engineering/computer
science–ready high school graduates, and higher retention for the HP
scholars in engineering and computer science majors.

Skill Development—Preparing for Rapid Technological Change

In addition to developing the FYEP courses, Jacquelyn Sullivan and
L. E. Carlson have utilized the Integrated Teaching and Learning Labo-
ratory at the University of Colorado at Boulder to develop a course
called “Innovation and Invention” that introduces students to entrepre-
neurial pursuits while building strong interdisciplinary and team skills.
As Nicholas Donofrio described while addressing the summit, “Inven-
tion alone does not guarantee value. That’s where innovation comes in.
It is the application of invention—the fusion of new developments and
new approaches to solve real problems.” These types of entrepreneurial
courses were widely supported by industry representatives at the 2020
Summit, and the entrepreneurial/innovator role was viewed as a unique
American strength that should be supported in view of increasing global
competition. Recognizing that “inventors frequently depend on a mix
of deep theoretical understanding of materials and processes and hands-
on experiential knowledge of how things work in the physical and social
worlds,” courses such as Innovation and Invention begin to develop the
boundary-broaching skills that typically mark the innovator (Commit-
tee for Study of Invention, 2004). Other professional skills that are
realized in a course of this type relate to communication skills because
students must present and defend product design features and work
closely with peers (from engineering, business, and other domains) and
advisors.

12 See http://www.cfalliance.org/gallery.html.

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