Study Overseas

Science and engineering go hand in hand. Indeed, for those employed in education and research, it is impossible to say just where science ends and engineering begins, as successful engineering jobs can be found with both science or medical degrees, and scientific jobs can be found with engineering degrees. There is both excitement and wonderful opportunity awaiting those who are willing to undertake the demanding study of engineering and science.

Donald Stokes, of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton, noted that research is both basic, as it advances fundamental understanding while at the same time being applied towards improving universal well being. Science and engineering do indeed share many challenges and opportunities which attract students in preparation for a wide choice of careers. This gives the breadth and depth of understanding for graduates to work in multidisciplinary teams and the cultural awareness and people skills to be effective in a global economy with multi-country business relationships.

Ph.D. production of engineers is at an all time high in the United States, with a very strong job market for those seeking employment with a bachelor's degree in most fields of engineering and fields of science. Engineering faculties are also constantly working to update and improve their facilities such as better laboratories. Improvements in these areas have been underway for some years, but recently the engineering education community formalised them by establishing a new engineering degree accreditation program, Engineering Criteria 2000, under the auspices of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

Another program of interest is the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 'Visiting Scholars Program' in which outstanding scholars are sent to selected engineering colleges to conduct two-day workshops designed to enhance the quality of engineering teaching by sharing practices among colleges of engineering across the country. This year, they are launching a new program, the 'Action Agenda', for systemic engineering education reform. In recent years, engineering schools have been conducting a substantial amount of experimentation on engineering education. This program seeks to develop significant advances in :

• Teaching and learning methods
• Curricular content
• Creating constituencies and networks in engineering education

Special emphasis is placed on multiple goal achievements and strong institutional commitment, in order to integrate the project results into ongoing educational activities.

Much of this revolution in engineering education is because of the pervasive and global capability that communication and information technology are providing to those throughout higher education. Today, education and research in engineering colleges is carried out across not only the academic departments, but also across several universities, often with industrial and governmental partners from around the world.  By participating in engineering research at educational centres, students can learn to work as a team, with students and faculty from various disciplines in science and engineering, as well as public policy, business and medicine.

Students also learn to work with their counterparts from different cultures, not only because the United States is traditionally a melting pot, but also because many have internships in other countries and cultures, as well as many students from overseas studying with them.

In addition, engineering education and research teams are not only multidisciplinary and multi-institutional, but multi-generational. They involve faculty and students from post-doctoral level, to Ph.D., to undergraduate, and increasingly to high school through summer job experiences.

This is stimulating and productive for all concerned, keeping the faculty intellectually young, and giving the students an opportunity to see and experience the maturing process.

These centres have been encouraged and supported by the NDF, the DOD, NIH and other federal agencies. But the rapid pace of technological change does not stop when these students leave college with a Bachelor's degree or a Ph.D. in Engineering. They are encouraged to look at engineering education as a lifelong learning commitment.

A college degree alone is no longer sufficient for the life-long practice of engineering, so that engineering schools and industry working together need to find new and better ways of providing career-long education for practising engineers.

Engineering schools realise too that the layman must not be forgotten. People around the world must also be educated, become technologically literate, in order to understand how technology is developed, and how important it is to modern society. Some engineering schools are now offering courses in Introduction to Technology, that may satisfy some of the required courses for liberal arts majors.

This means that the study of science and engineering will lead to further progress in improving one of the key elements for the success of both America and the world.

Author
Earl Dowel
Former Dean of Engineering, Duke University