Engineering Education for the

21st Century
Charles M. Vest
President, National Academy of Engineering

ASEE Annual Conference

Pittsburgh, PA
June 23, 2008
A Summary of Sorts
When I started teaching in 1967,
our concerns were:
• How to make the first year exciting,

• How to communicate what engineers actually do,

• How to develop an understanding of business

processes, and

• How to get students to think about ethics and

social responsibility.
Today, in 2008, our concerns are:
Today, in 2008, our concerns are:
• How to make the first year exciting,

• How to communicate what engineers actually do,

• How to develop an understanding of business

processes, and

• How to get students to think about ethics and

social responsibility.
 And to this we must add:
• Nano-Bio-Info
• Large Complex Systems
• An entire new life-science base
• Astounding computation and storage capabilities
• Globalization
• Innovation
• Leadership
• Teamwork across disciplines, fields, nations and cultures
• Experiential Learning: Conceive / Design / Implement / Operate.
• Entrepreneurship
• Product Development and Manufacturing
• Sustainable Development
Oh, And Our Graduates Must Be
Global Engineers
• Technically Adept • Multilingual

• Broadly • Culturally Aware

Knowledgeable
• Able to Understand
• Innovative and World Markets
Entrepreneurial
• Professionally
• Commercially Savvy Flexible and Mobile
WHY?
 Because
the world is changing.
 Context and Goals for
Technological Education
• A New Century

• New Innovation and Enterprise Models

• New Technological Frontiers

• Engineering Grand Challenges

It’s a New Century
 A New Century

• 20th Century:
– Physics, Electronics, and High-Speed
Communications and Transportation

• 21st Century:
– Biology and Information,
– but also Energy, Water, and Sustainability
 With New R&D Investments
R&D Expenditures and Share of World Total

Data for 2002

Source: Science and Engineering Indicators, NSF 2008

 U.S. R&D: On Top / Losing Share

• The U.S. leads in R&D investments

• The U.S. is among the leaders of the pack in R&D/GDP.

• However, our global share declined in every category from 1986 to

2003.
– Domestic R&D -9% New U.S. Patents -2%
– Sci. Publications -8% Sci. Researchers -8%
– S&E BS Degrees -10% New S&E PhDs -30%

Source: Competitiveness Index, Council on Competitiveness Nov. 2006

 With New Players
Where the Expertise is

Source: Competitiveness Index 2007, Council on Competitiveness, Washington, DC

Where the Expertise will be …
First Engineering Degrees
(China Rises.)

China

Japan

US

Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC
It’s not all about numbers, but …
It’s not all about numbers, but …
• “Venture capital is the search for
smart engineers.”
--Floyd Kvamme
Kleiner-Perkins
It’s not all about numbers, but …
• “Venture capital is the search for
smart engineers.”
--Floyd Kvamme
Kleiner-Perkins
With New Speed
A New Century with

New Innovation and

Enterprise Models
 With New Jobs
U.S. % Employment by Sector
History and Projection

Source: Stuart Feldman, IBM Research, Presentation at Carnegie-Mellon University, 29 June, 2005
 With New Connections
Location No Longer Matters.
• “The World is Flat” -- Tom Friedman
– In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down, and Microsoft’s
Windows went up.

– $1.5 trillion worth of optical fiber connects the world.

– Globalization has “accidentally made Beijing,

Bangalore, and Bethesda next door neighbors.”

– Many jobs are now just a “mouse click” away from

anywhere..
 With New Debates
Location Does Matter.
• The power of regional innovation
clusters

• Proximity of small companies and

corporate labs to universities

• Venture capital networks

Both are correct. But in any
event, … Globalization is the
new reality.
 With New Innovation Models

• Open Innovation (Henry Chesbrough, HBS)

– Companies today must integrate the best ideas, no
matter where they originate.
• In other countries
• In other companies or laboratories
• Even in competing organizations.

– New, dynamic business models are needed for an

open, connected world.
• Licensing
• Partnering
• Joint Venturing
 With New Enterprise Models

• The Globally Integrated Enterprise

(Sam Palmesano, CEO IBM)
– Supercedes the multinational corporation
– Driven by globally shared technologies and
standards built on global IT
– Focus shifted from products to production
– New borderless strategy, management,
and operations for integrated production
and value delivery.
Service Enterprises will look like
this:
Function 1 Function 3 Function 4
Function 2
Country C
Country A
Country D

Country B Function 9
Function 5 Function 8
Country H

Function 6
Function 7

Country E Country F Country I

Country G
Manufacturing Projects
already look like this.
 Manufacturing Projects
already look like this.
• But with many more boxes and
countries!
 Manufacturing Projects
already look like this.
• But with many more boxes and
countries!

• For example, the new Boeing 787

 Manufacturing Projects
already look like this.
• But with many more boxes and
countries!

• For example, the new Boeing 787

– Reportedly has 132,500 engineered parts

 Manufacturing Projects
already look like this.
• But with many more boxes and
countries!

• For example, the new Boeing 787

– Reportedly has 132,500 engineered parts

– Produced in 545 global locations.

With New Importance of Small Companies
Small and Medium Firms Drive Job Growth

Net change in employment

+3,000,000

-2,000,000
1990 1994 1998 2002

Source: Competitiveness Index, Council on Competitiveness Nov. 2006

 A New Century with

New Technological Frontiers

With New Engineering Frontiers

Bio
Info
Nano

Smaller and Smaller

Faster and Faster
More and More Complex
Engineering Frontiers

Macro
Energy
Environment
Health Care
Manufacturing
Communications
Logistics
Larger and Larger
More and More Complex
Great Societal Importance
 Frontiers and Synergies

Macro
Natural Science Energy
Nano Environment
Bio Health Care
Info Manufacturing
Communications
Logistics

Science and Engineering

Are Merging.
Frontiers and Synergies
These engineering systems need
social science, management, and
humanities / communications.
Macro
Energy
Nano Environment
Bio Health Care
Info Manufacturing
Communications
Social Science
Logistics
 Frontiers and Synergies
Must be reflected in university education.

Macro
Natural Science Energy
Nano Environment
Bio Health Care
Info Manufacturing
Communications
Social Science
Logistics
The Payoff will come from
Bridging the Frontiers

Macro
Energy
Bio
Bio-based materials Environment
Info Biomemetics Health Care
Nano Personalized, Predictive
Medicine
Manufacturing
Synthetic Biology Communications
Biofuels Logistics
Etc.
 The Payoff will come from
Bridging the Frontiers
Our students must be prepared to do this.

Macro
Energy
Bio
Bio-based materials Environment
Info Biomemetics Health Care
Nano Personalized, Predictive
Medicine
Manufacturing
Synthetic Biology Communications
Biofuels Logistics
Etc.
 The Payoff will come from
Bridging the Frontiers
Our students must be prepared to do this.

Macro
Energy
Bio
Bio-based materials Environment
Info Biomemetics Health Care
Nano Personalized, Predictive
Medicine
Manufacturing
Synthetic Biology Communications
Biofuels Logistics
Etc.
 In this New Century

Engineering is Dynamic
with Exciting Frontiers
and Grand Challenges
 Engineering is not static.
• 20th century Stovepipes:

– Scientists discovered.

– Engineers created.

– Doctors healed.
 Engineering is not static.
• 21st century science, engineering,and
medicine are:

– Totally interdependent

– Blending together in new ways

Engineering is about Systems

• From nanobiological devices

• To large scale infrastructure

• To the earth itself

 And Engineering Systems
include, interact with, and serve:
• People
• Economies
• Business
• Law
• Politics
• Culture …
Grand Challenges for Engineering

• Proposed by a committee of amazingly

accomplished and innovative people.

• Extremely challenging and important.

• Deemed to be doable in the next few

decades.
Grand Challenges Committee
• Bill Perry, chair • Bob Langer
• Sir Alec Broers • Jaime Lerner
• Farouk El-Baz • Bindu Lohani
• Wes Harris • Jane Lubchenco
• Bernadine Healy • Mario Molina
• Daniel Hillis • Larry Page
• Calestous Juma • Rob Socolow
• Dean Kamen • Craig Venter
• Ray Kurzweil • Jackie Ying
 Engineering Grand
Challenges
Announced Feb. 15, 2008
• Make Solar Energy Economical
• Provide Energy from Fusion
• Develop Carbon Sequestration
Methods
• Manage the Nitrogen Cycle
• Provide Access to Clean Water
• Engineer Better Medicines
• Advance Health Informatics
• Secure Cyberspace
• Prevent Nuclear Terror
• Restore and Improve Urban
Infrastructure
• Reverse Engineer the Brain
• Enhance Virtual Reality
• Advance Personalized
Learning
• Engineer the Tools of Scientific
Discovery
 Engineering Grand
Challenges
See the NAE website.

Energy Reducing Vulnerability to

Environment Human and Natural Threats
Global Warming
Sustainability

Expand and Enhance

Human Capability
Improve Medicine and And Joy
Healthcare Delivery
Think about these Challenges
• Some are imperative for human survival.

• Some will make us more secure against natural and

human threats.

• All will improve quality of life.

• Most are of global scale.

 Subtext of the Challenges
• The public and policy makers need to
understand what engineers do and can
do.

• And don’t forget why young women and

men chose NOT to study engineering …
 Subtext of the Challenges
• The public and policy makers need to
understand what engineers do and can
do.

• And don’t forget why young women and

men chose NOT to study engineering …
They’d “rather go into a field where they
can help people and make the world
better”!
 Subtext of the Challenges
• The public and policy makers need to
understand what engineers do and can
do.

• And don’t forget why young women and

men chose NOT to study engineering …
They’d “rather go into a field where they
can help people and make the world
better”!
 In Closing

Some Personal Views

about Engineering Education
 Some Personal Views and
Questions
• What is important in Engineering Education?

• Innovation in Teaching and Learning

• The Need for Research and Assessment of

Teaching and Learning

• The Meta University

 What is important in
Engineering Education
Making universities and engineering
schools exciting, creative, adventurous,
rigorous, demanding, and empowering
environments is more important than
specifying curricular details.
 What is important in
Engineering Education
Making universities and engineering
schools exciting, creative, adventurous,
rigorous, demanding, and empowering
environments is more important than
specifying curricular details.

That’s what I learned at MIT.

 Innovation in Engineering /
Technology Education
• There is a lot out there:
– Experiential learning
– Projects
– Computer-assisted learning
– CDIO
– Business Plan Competitions
– UROP, UPOP
– Studio Learning
– WebLab
– Second Life …… etc.
– Entire new schools like Olin College
 Innovation in Engineering /
Technology Education
• There is a lot out there:
– Experiential learning
– Projects
– Computer-assisted learning
– CDIO
– Business plan competitions
– UROP, UPOP
– Studio Learning
– WebLab
– Second Life …… etc.
– Entire new schools like Olin College

• But we don’t assess or propagate them! (NIH?)

Digital Resources for Education
• Cyberinfrastructure

• Inexpensive, Limitless Memory

• Digital Archives
– JSTOR, ARTstor, Ithaka, Public Library of Science, Google
Library, …

• Platforms / Pedagogy
– SAKAI, OKI, Open Learning Initiative (CMU), Connexion
(Rice), Digital Chemistry (Berkeley), VUE (Tufts), Lionshare
(Penn State), …
 And the Open Content
Movement
• MIT OpenCourseWare
– Teaching Materials for 1800 courses
– Free of charge to Anyone, Anywhere

OCW Traffic OCW Movement

 The Meta University
A Personal View

What we are observing is the early

emergence of a Meta University -- a
transcendent, accessible, empowering,
dynamic, communally-constructed
framework of open materials and
platforms on which much of higher
education worldwide can be constructed
or enhanced.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you for your attention.