Engineering Education

[envirotex]

https://player.vimeo.com/video/184659584?app_id=122963



I guess the first response would be that's why internships in engineering are so important.  However, I find this discussion really interesting. How has the education of engineers changed with time? I know lots of "old-timers" (now mostly retired) who never even got a dergee, and earned their title through practical experience.  Maybe engineering should be a "technical trade".  (GASP)

 

[Dean Agnostic]

Interesting. 

 

[Dean Agnostic]

Even more interesting is the guy (Mr. Miller) has a Ph.D. in Mechanics. 

 

[bwin12]

I think the guy has interesting points, and my "1st year in college self" would agree with him much more than my "11 years out of college with a PE self".

I don't agree with his comparison to a musician, I think that's a little bit of a reach. Say he compared it to someone studying elementary education. Is that person supposed to be in an elementary school classroom from day one? Do they need to be a teacher while learning to teach? If I hire an engineer to design the structure of a house I want them to know why that beam is going to bend or how to counteract the wind load. And then, when I want to add of a fancy deck on the second floor I want them to be able to say its safe if its built this way, not "oh I have never done that because I only learned how to be an engineer, not engineering".

All that said, I think the system needs some tweaks. As mentioned earlier, internships are the best thing ever.

Also, he can say the % of students with engineering degrees are declining, but he needs to take into account this most recent generation. Take a senior in high school in 1968 and another in 2018 "ok, if you want to be an engineer you need to plan on 8 solid semesters of 8 AM classes, 20 +/- credit hours, doing an internship over each summer and generally being challenged. In return I can almost guarantee you a substantially above average starting and career-long salary that you actually have some responsibility and take care of yourself and a family." Nah, ill just live in my parents basement until I'm 28 with my Art of Listening to Music degree...

 

[willsee]

Or the brightest realize they can make more money by not being engineering students or not practicing engineering - while putting in less effort in college