Engineering For A Changing World

Engineering Education in the Rapidly Changing World

The first edition inspired many conversations about “The Future Engineer” at my home university and many partner universities and institutes abroad. The “Free Spirits” Think Tank of the 4TU.Centre of Engineering Education in the Netherlands, which investigates the rise of new engineering profiles in the coming 10 to 15 years and develops matching scenarios for campus education in 2030, has taken my vision as a source of inspiration. The numerous meetings and workshops I attended between engineering academics, industries and engineering consultancies in the Netherlands and abroad, and the conferences and panels of the global CDIO Initiative and the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) in Florence (2015) all discussed the subject of the engineer and industry of the future. They addressed the impact of the changing global economy, the fast pace of change, the limited shelf life of specialist knowledge, the university’s role in innovation, the need for an interdisciplinary mind-set, the global interconnectedness, the rise of machine intelligence and the use of open standards. These are all aspects that shape the rapidly changing world in which we live and in which we educate tomorrow’s engineers, who might be a different breed than the ones we have been educating over the past 50 years. These factors set the scene for the “why” and “what” of our future education.

Adapting Engineering Education to a Rapidly Changing World

Rapid technological advancements, globalization, and environmental concerns impact the role of engineers in today’s society. The book emphasizes the role and contribution of engineers to society, and the importance of engineering education. However, to better prepare engineers, for the challenges and opportunities of their profession, engineering education must change. This book begins by comparing the systems of engineering education in the United States and the United Kingdom, in terms of program structure, students, academics/faculty, and external factors. This comparison provides context to the discussion of the leadership role engineers should play and how engineering education should prepare students for leadership. The focus of the second part of the book is on the important role of professional development in engineering education and on broadening access to and participation in these programs. The author explains that engineering education programs must be redesigned to meet industry needs and to allow future engineers to achieve career success. To do so, in addition to traditional topics in science and engineering, programs should help students develop professional and managerial skills including communication, project management, analytical, and problem-solving skills. The final part of the book is dedicated to exploring how accelerated technological developments including artificial intelligence, require that engineering programs adapt, in order to remain relevant.

Engineering in the Changing World