One only has to learn of projects missing profit targets.
And far too many physically failing.
Turns out that while we taught engineers their technical work,
we neglected to teach them "How to play nice with others."
And educators refer to this knowledge and skill as "Soft."
No!
Engineers find tech somewhat soft, and collaboration, cooperation, and communication hard!
Q2 of 2: What and how as we enter 2024 might we do to bring the education of engineers into their future, today?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Cheers,
Bill
It has been my observation over many years, that engineering education relies too much on computer tools that can solve problems for them. I started as a stress analyst when FEA was the fallback method after Roark & Young plus Peterson had not been sufficiently conservative. I've seen experienced engineers demonstrate that weeks of computer analysis is wrong in a few minutes using simple equations on the back of an envelope.
In my calculus class, we found derivatives and solved integrals the hard way. In my differential equations class, we did it the hard way. In dynamics, we used those tools to develop the equations to be solved (and then solved them) to calculate the natural frequencies of the system.
I recently retook fracture mechanics. In the middle of two different lectures, the professor had to stop and explain basic calculus to the students - the chain rule and l'Hopital's rule. I'll be several didn't follow the separation of variables method used to derive the stress intensity factor solution, either.
I taught statistics for quality control for several years. I had to teach my students math I learned in 10th and 11th grade, material that was supposedly covered in the prerequisite math class. I made my students do the calculations by hand before allowing them to automate those calculations in Excel. After the final, one student, with 15+ years of experience as a quality manager, said he had started to get annoyed because I didn't just start teaching them Minitab which could do everything in the book. But by the end, he was definitely glad I dragged him through the mud to learn what the equations were doing. He had been using Minitab incorrectly for a long time. By the way, I taught them to use Excel because most would be working for small companies that would never pay to buy Minitab, but Excel would be installed on every computer they would ever be given.
Students aren't learning the fundamentals of math, physics, chemistry necessary to understand mechanics, vibration, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, or anything else. They're learning to play video games with software that provides a crutch to learn.
And they also need to learn to work and play well with others. I learned that in band starting in 5th grade through my second year of grad school.
Thanks Doug, and a very Happy New Year to you and yours!
Re: "And they also need to learn to work and play well with others. I learned that in band starting in 5th grade"
An orchestra is a great model for this topic.
i.e., while each section has its specialty, and needs to continually improve in their area, the conductor has to get them to collaborate BEFORE the show.
Imagine how this would change the results of programs/projects!
Cheers,
Bill
in all my years as a lecturer, I noticed that most of my students study in "compartments", and whatever they learn in that compartment, stays there. coming to the next subject, and these knowledge areas pop up and student needs to be able to apply their knowledge, they forgot it all. they will even tell their lecturer they have never seen it before.
the industrial engineering field is very interactive, and if my students need to create a floor plan, they need to be able to apply work-study concepts, production engineering, costing, possibly simulation CAD and even communication skills...... yet the students do not always "see" how all their subjects link together, and influence your decisions.
Thanks Hester!
Now, "Against all odds," what and how do we collaborate to get Deans of Schools of Engineering to bring their programs into 2024 and beyond?
Cheers,
Bill
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