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"How can Engineering Education Address the Challenges of the 21st Century?", Lueny Morell, President of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies, Open Innovation Office, HP Labs, USA.

Abstract: The evolution of the world economy, new business strategies and globalization are forcing countries and regions develop approaches to enhance their economies to better compete worldwide. Higher education, science, technology, engineering and innovation play a fundamental role in the creation of wealth, economic development and in the improvement of the quality of life for all citizens. This presentation will address the need to reform/innovate engineering education and capacity building as key foundations that enhance national/regional economic development strategies. It will discuss the skills and competencies needed in graduates as well as the various issues that engineering/technology education leaders need to address.

Biographical Sketch: Lueny Morell, M.S., P.E., is Program Manager in the Strategy and Innovation Office staff of Hewlett Packard Laboratories (HPL) in Palo Alto, California. She is responsible for facilitating external research collaborations for HPL and lead initiatives focused on R&D talent development, collaborating with external partners (government entities and other corporate labs) to pursue strategies and initiatives of benefit to the research community. In the past, she was in charge of developing engineering/science curriculum innovation initiatives worldwide in support of HPL research and technology areas and former director of HPL University Relations for Latin America and the Caribbean in charge of building research and education collaborations with universities throughout the region. Before joining HP, Lueny was full professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez (UPRM) where she held positions at the Campus and UPR system level, including director of Campus Research Center. Recipient of the 2006 US National Academy of Engineering Bernard M. Gordon award, her work in curriculum, research, accreditation and economic development activities has been published in more than 60 papers, book chapters and journals. She is a licensed engineer, ABET reviewer and member of various national and international boards including the US National Science Foundation International Science and Engineering Advisory Committee, ASEE International Advisory Committee and President of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.
"The Missing Basics: What Engineers Don't Know and Why They Don't Know Them", Prof. David E. Goldberg, Co-Director, Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education

Abstract: The talk begins by inquiring what graduating undergraduate engineering students are unable to do when as seniors they are asked to solve real-world problems in an industrial-sponsored and project-based senior design course. It answers by listing seven qualitative thinking skills essential in engineering design and problem solving (questioning, labeling, qualitative modeling, empirical inquiry, visualization and ideation, and communication) and asks how it is possible that such fundamental skills are so lacking at the end of a supposedly modern engineering education. The talk answers this question by briefly reviewing the history of how the engineering education got to its current state following World War 2 and considers the missed revolutions (quality, entrepreneurial, and IT) of the modern academy since that time.
In the face of growing recognition of a problem, the talk asks why things haven't changed much, especially in the light of the issuance of many plans and substantial funding of curriculum reform. The talk suggests that the primary problems are organizational and philosophical.
Organizationally, the talk identifies the difficulty of changing the curriculum as an academic NIMBY (not in my backyard problem) in that faculty members generally support reform but logroll with their colleagues to prevent changes to their own courses. The result is a system locked into the status quo with only the most modest changes at the margins.
An initiative to overcome these organizational difficulties at the University of Illinois is discussed, the Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education (iFoundry). iFoundry's systems design is briefly presented, highlighting the need for an interdepartmental curriculum incubator that permits change at the same time it respects faculty governance. The three-part conceptual decomposition of a balanced curriculum is discussed in the 3Space proposal that considers a creative-era engineering curriculum in ThingSpace, ThinkSpace, and FolkSpace. Other early initiatives and experiences of iFoundry are surveyed.
Finally, because the problem is, at root, philosophical, the talk concludes by briefly considering the importance of philosophy to engineering educational transformation.

Biographical Sketch: David E. Goldberg a leader in the field of genetic algorithms, is the Jerry S. Dobrovolny Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also co-founder and chief scientist of ShareThis Inc., a web2.0 startup company. Trained as a civil engineer at the University of Michigan, where he earned his B.S.E. and took his Ph.D. in 1983, Dr. Goldberg has held academic positions at Michigan, Alabama, and Illinois. He co-chaired the 2007 and 2008 Workshops on Philosophy and Engineering (TUDelft & the Royal Academy of Engineeirng) and is currently co-chair of the 2010 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology. In 2007 he co-founded the Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education (iFoundry) and in 2008 he was named its co-director. Among many honors, he is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Wickenden Award presented by the American Society for Engineering Education, and an Outstanding Instructor Award presented by the National Technological University . In addition to articles in professional journals, he is the author of two books on genetic algorithms, the widely-cited Genetic Algorithms in Search, Organization, and Machine Learning (1989) and The Design of Innovation (2002), and, most recently, The Entrepreneurial Engineer, which was published in 2006 by Wiley.
Which type of engineer do the
society and industry need?
Are current engineers
prepared enough for the society and industry needs?
What set of knowledge and skills should engineers possess?
How can we do better at the
university to educate engineers?
How to make the profession attractive to new students?