Engineering for People
By coincidence, my post yesterday about the need for engineering to better emphasize its human dimension if it is to attract students with a strong motivation to help people rather than just solve technically challenging problems, is eloquently supported today by an article, "Holistic Engineering", in the March 16 issue of The Chronicle Review.
The article, by Domenico Grasso, dean and professor at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont, and David Martinelli, chairman of the department of civil and environmental engineering at West Virginia University, asserts
In this evolving world, a new kind of engineer is needed, one who can think broadly across disciplines and consider the human dimensions that are at the heart of every design challenge. In the new order, narrow engineering thinking will not be enough. American higher education is in an unusual position to create the 21st-century engineer.
They point out that many more engineers are being trained worldwide than ever before, many of them in Asia and as technically competent as US-trained engineers. But they assert that technical competence, though certainly necessary, is no longer sufficient. "The crucial question facing academe is whether we are adequately preparing our future engineers and designers to practice in an era that requires integrated and holistic thinking, or are needlessly limiting their solution spaces to those that contain only technological answers, with scant or passing consideration of the myriad other influencing and dependent factors." They write
In engineering, a discipline that purports to design for humanity and improve the quality of life, the unity of knowledge should be a sine qua non that asks engineers to look outward, beyond the fields of math and science, in search of solutions to entire problems. To better serve humanity, engineers must at least attempt to understand the human condition in all its complexity — which requires the study of literature, history, philosophy, psychology, religion, and economics, among other fields.
I'm tempted to quote the whole article, but it's simpler (and less in violation of copyright laws) to refer you to the Chronicle of Higher Education web site to read it yourself.
These arguments apply not just to engineering, but to every academic specialty. To be fully engaged with public concerns—and thus to justify the public support that we expect—we need to broaden our horizons and enrich the education we provide our students.