With the advent of technology, industry is more and more looking for the high tech engineer. What are the Characteristics of the Engineer of the 21st Century?
In general, Engineers like to work alone, and they are good at math.
I think work in group will be a desirable characteristic.
Social relationship will be also another important characteristic.
I though is the same as in old times Ziad: High analysis capacity, creativity and imagination, curiosity, hard working, and knowledge, good communication skills and group interaction and solving problem habilities. But if you refer to the kind of background the new engineers will have, obviously they are different. The knowledge of a wide range of the rest of the engineering fields, if you think about a mechanical engineer she/he will be able to understand the foundations of chemistry at a higher level in order to have a better understanding of science of materials. Or if you think about a biochemical enginnering which will need more and more knowlege of genetics. In order to solve more each time more difficult problems with many variables the habilities to have a solid manage of softwares very specialized will be unavoidable. The learnt of high level matemathics specialy statistic, like probabilistic models, new transformation methods to differential equations, and topology turn into a basic tool with the help of the respective software. And old but each time less used skill will be the key of the new engineers, they will able to have the hability to share information and get it as fast as the technologies let you, increasing the criticism abouy it. The technology is and will be always "high technology" --at your time--, the good understanding of how it works will always be the key.
The way the technology is evolving continuously, it is important for the engineer and technologists to keep himself/herself to be aware of progress achieved in various frontiers and how to apply them for a given situation. The typical characteristics that should be present in any engineer is
Fundamental knowledge of the basic sciences and mathematics,
Good analytical skills
Good understanding in any specific domain such as manufacturing engineering, design engineering, plastics, etc.
Good understanding of the available technology and pros and cons of each of them,
Ability to articulate the knowledge when required, for example to generate ideas suitable for the existing problem or situation based on his/her knowledge in the fundamentals,
Ability to evaluate ideas given by others as to their correctness and appropriateness for the given problem or situation,
Good part of this ability comes from experience, formal training and of course from the natural ability of an individual person.
Ability to work in groups with good communication capability and proper understanding of the diverse groups of people.
The question is highly interesting and the answer is also related to the different types of engineers (mainly problem-solvers in industry or technologists, research engineers - academicists and industrial managers).
Some may benefit from a more scientifical background, while others depend on their leadership and command skills and may need "softer" skills.
In any case a good starting point may be the professional skills proposed by ABET some decades ago, which are currently used for the evaluation of engineering programmes in several countries, not only in the US.
Another remarkable study, with several answers and topic related to the proposed question, is entitled "Engineering for a Changing World: A Roadmap to the Future of Engineering Practice, Research and Education", carried out at Michigan University in the framework of the Millenium Project.
Personally, I believe that the progressive shift from traditional master classes to project-based learning activities are key for educating the engineers of the future.
Engineering has always been a service profession and continues to be. The rate of innovation has increased. Our social structures have also changed thanks to advances in things like communications and transportation. Globalization affects the profession of engineering, as it affects many things we do.
A few years back I co-authored an article A Global Engineer for the Global Community, which presents this kind of thinking. What we "engineer" can now have world-wide impact technologically, environmentally, socially, etc. Engineers of the future (which some call Global Engineers) must have different skills. This includes the "soft skills" like communications but also some newer skills like cultural awareness and empathy.
Engineering, as with the rest of the world, I think is beginning to shift from solely profit motivated innovation to holistic, responsible innovation, which may desire profit but with appropriate consideration for other factors including environmental and social impacts.
Engineering education is already shifting in this manner in response to changes in industry and the rest of the world.
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