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I am attending the 2008 ASEE Annual Conference that is
taking place this week (June 22 – 26) in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. The American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE) is the biggest organization of its kind in the world. It was established in 1893 with the purpose
of enhancing Engineering and Engineering Technology education. Nowadays its
membership includes more 13,000 engineering educators from around the world,
and hundred of colleges and corporations. Every year the Annual Conference and
Exposition attracts thousand of members and associates. This year more than
3,200 engineering attended and more than 500 papers were presented. You can
imagine the activities in the conference center during the three days of the
conference.
This year theme, "Building
Bridges to Create Change in Engineering Education", was the main topic
presented by the keynote speaker, Dr. Charles M. Vest, President of the
National Academy of Engineering, and by the daily presentations of the
Distinguished Lecturers.
Dr. Vest, an influential figure in engineering and science
education, talked about the big challenges in engineering education that are
needed to respond to a shrinking and changing world ("The World is Flat").
Innovation and change in a global economy is always ahead of us. In a knowledge-based
global economy we must address the increased global competition as well as the
great opportunities and responsibilities for global cooperation. For Dr. Vest,
our engineering education must address the emergence of new fields of knowledge
associated with engineering, and the new realities of the World. In his keynote speech he outlined three
general areas that must be addressed when educating our young engineers:
1. The
emergence of life science as a foundation for engineering,
2. The
massive employment shifts into the service sector, and
3. The
essential of engineering systems in meeting humankind's grand challenges
(energy, clean water, and others)
I will address these topics in my
next posts. What are your thoughts about these challenges?
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