IAB tackles engineering education

Phil Hamilton
ASME Government Relations

WASHINGTON — Engineering education at universities should focus on teaching fundamentals that provide a foundation for ongoing training to expand engineering skills, according to ASME's Industry Advisory Board (IAB).

Meeting here this spring, the IAB discussed a broad range of issues relating to the preparation of young engineers for careers in industry. Keynote speaker C.D. Mote, Jr., president of the University of Maryland, observed that although technology is pervasive in our lives, technical education is not flourishing.

Mote attributed that, in part, to a relatively traditional approach to engineering education. "Faculty are invested in the status quo," he explained. "Students tend to be satisfied with what they are taught ... there is no clear driver for change."

In Mote's view, engineering education should be broadened beyond its narrow technical focus to help prepare engineers for leadership roles in society. "Assumption of leadership roles in society is essential for engineering to become a complete profession," he said.

Acknowledging that only so much can be included in a four- or five-year undergraduate curriculum, Mote suggested that consideration be given to the development of an undergraduate engineering science degree with a range of available minors, such as public policy. Under this approach, an engineering degree would require graduate work.

Bruce Kramer, director of the Engineering Education and Centers Division at the National Science Foundation, discussed the need to make engineering education attractive to a broader segment of the population and to improve the teaching skills of engineering faculty. He noted that the leading reason cited by engineering majors for changing to other majors was poor teaching.

Concerns about the pipeline for engineering students were highlighted by Charla Wise, vice president of engineering at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., and Robert Spitzer, vice president of Technical Affiliations at The Boeing Co. They noted that strengthening precollege math and science education and attracting more minorities and women will be essential for industries such as defense, which anticipate growth in the demand for engineers.

 

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