Prof. Jonathan ColtonZeigler Outstanding Educator Award

LectureFebruary 26, 2008

The Case for Liberal Engineering

Jack M. Zeigler (ME 1948)

• Thanks for supporting this award and lecture.• Mr. Jack M. Zeigler received his bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering after interrupting his education with 3½ years of service in the U.S. Army. While at Georgia Tech, he was a co-op student at two companies, where he worked primarily as a draftsman. In one company he earned $1.25 an hour; this was a raise from $0.55 per hour at the other company.

• Mr. Zeigler is the retired President and Owner of Fabrication Engineering Service Company, Inc. (FESCO). FESCO specializes in the made-to-order fabrication business using high quality alloy steels to produce tanks for the chemicals industry and pressure vessels for textile manufacturers.

Previous winners

• William Black

• Said Abdel-Khalik

• Farrokh Mistree

• Robert Fulton

• James Hartley

• David McDowell

• Robert Nerem

Acknowledgments

• My students

• Ray Vito – Georgia Tech

• James Duderstadt – U. Michigan

• Charles Vest – MIT

Bully Pulpit

• Current UG engineering education is increasingly outmoded and irrelevant.

• We need a new paradigm in engineering education to produce future technological leaders.

Liberal Engineering

• Prepares students for lives that go beyond short-term, practical problem solving.

• Provides students with critical skills and interests in the larger problems of living in society.

The World is Flat

• Perception – jobs going to India and China due to lower costs

Engineering Degree Production in Selected Countries

NSF

China

Thousands

Japan

USAS Korea

UKGermany

Disturbing Trends

• Commoditized engineering jobs are being lost overseas

• Reduced production of US engineers– due to lack of interest?– due to lack of careers opportunities?

The World is Spiky - Patents

The Atlantic Monthly, October 2005

Scientific Citations

The Atlantic Monthly, October 2005

Science, Vol 314, 8 December 2006, 1547

Where is the New Science in Corporate R&D?

Characteristics of Non-fungible, On-shored Jobs

• Very high value-added contributions

• Idea generators

• Define problems within the context of the local society

U.S. Goals for GraduatesEducating the Engineer of 2020

• Technically Proficient

• Broadly Educated

• Think of Themselves as Global Citizens

• Can be Leaders in Business and Public Service

• Ethically Grounded

GT Strategic Plan

Georgia Tech will define the technological research university of the 21st century and educate the leaders of a technologically

driven world.

So, what are we doing to educate these leaders?

• 1 year of a combination of college level mathematics and basic sciences

• 1½ years of engineering topics, consisting of engineering sciences and engineering design

• A general education component

• A curriculum culminating in a major design experience

ME Requirements

Chemistry, Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Physics, English, Humanities, Social Science, Electrical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Ethics, Statistics, Economics, Engineering Economics, Computing, History, Wellness

ME Requirements

Engineering Graphics, Computing, Dynamics, Design, Mechanics, DefBods, Fluids, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Controls, Machine Design, Thermal Design, Experimental Methods Lab, Systems Lab, Manufacturing, Capstone Design…

Educational Experience

• Over-loaded with (technical) courses– Average time to graduate 4.5+ years– Hold-over from quarter-system

• No time to explore without delaying graduation– Personal interests (sleep)– Minors– Double majors– Junior year abroad

Five Minute University

Father Guido Sarducci

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4

ME Five Minute University

• Mechanics– Free-body diagram

• Fluids– Bernoulli

• Thermodynamics– Control volume

• Dynamics– Rotation about a fixed axis

Technological leaders are produced in spite of what we do

Students somehow find the time

Today’s Engineering Education

• 21st century students

• 20th century curriculum

• 19th century institutions

• Changes one grave at a time

• Hasn’t changed much in 100 years

What Should We Do?

Nothing, things are fine

• Engineers are valuable because they know how to think.– Set up problems– Solve problems

• We teach students how to think.• It works: 25% of S&P 500 CEOs have

an UG degree in engineering.– But, what are their advanced degrees in?

Things aren’t fine

• We can’t continue to create commoditized, plug-and-play graduates who are easily replaced by lower-wage, overseas engineers.

• We can teach thinking in better ways.

New Paradigm Needed

Liberal Engineering

Charles William EliotProfessor at Harvard & MIT

President of Harvard

“The student in a polytechnic school has a practical end constantly in view….This practical end should never be lost sight of by student or teacher in a polytechnic school, and should seldom be thought of or alluded to in a college.” (1869)

J.S. CoonProfessor of Mechanical Engineering

“It will be conceded that it is not sufficient for a course in engineering to turn out technical experts, if it can hope to do even this. But it must do much more; it must turn out men. While the schedule of subjects in this course does not indicate it, it is the prime object to send out young men to engage in the commercial work of the world with high ideals, and a keen sense of moral responsibility. Good character is of more importance to the young engineer than engineering ability.”

GST Catalog 1906-07

Charles VestPresident of MIT

“Making universities and engineering schools exciting, creative, adventurous, rigorous, demanding, and empowering milieus is more important than specifying curricular details.” (2007)

What is Liberal Engineering?

A liberal education prepares students for lives that go beyond short-term, practical problem solving. It leaves them with critical skills and interests in the larger problems of living in society.

Source: a Harvard undergraduate

Why do we need it?

• To keep engineering relevant– to students– to employers– to the world

• Responds to societal needs

What have others done?

• Dartmouth– A.B. (engineering science) – not accredited – B.E. (engineering science) – one more year,

accredited

• Harvard– A.B. (engineering science) – not accredited– S.B. (engineering science) – accredited

• WPI– B.A. (liberal and engineering studies)– Not accredited

Open Engineering Degrees

• Cornell– Independent Major– Not accredited

• MIT– Course 2A– ABET accredited– S.B. in Engineering

COE Strategic Plan

Explore creating a new, innovative, rigorous and flexible bachelor’s degree

that will serve as a foundation for advanced study in professions other than,

and including, engineering.

Proposed Mission Shift

Produce leaders of a technologically driven world by producing a liberally educated and technologically literate

population.

Desired Characteristics of GT Graduates

• Broad range of understanding and knowledge– Liberal arts– Technical arts

• Problem identification and solving skills– Define problems within societal contexts– Develop multiple solutions

• Decision making skills• Leadership skills

Desired Characteristics of GT Graduates

• Operates in global environment– Understands engineering in a global context– Knows foreign languages and cultures

• Prepared for career changes– Self-learner (life-long learner)– College is just the beginning

• Ideas person– Symbol manipulator

• Independent thinker• Innovative, Entrepreneurial, Commercially

savvy

Operate at Extremes

• Nano, Femto

• National, global

Operate at Frontiers

BioInfo

Nano

MacroEnergy

EnvironmentHealth Care

ManufacturingCommunications

Logistics

Bio-based MaterialsBiomemeticsPersonalized, Predictive MedicineSynthetic BiologyBiofuels

Charles Vest

Technologically Literate Population

• Informed decisions on technical matters – balanced views

– Political – Personal

– Business

• Examples

– Frankenfoods– Nanotechnology

or

Educational Philosophy

• Attract larger numbers of diverse students• Undergraduate education

– Technical literacy– Liberal education– Exposure

• Graduate education– In-depth technical understanding– Professional practice– Life-long process– Required for future success

Undergraduate Education

• Mass customization, rather than mass production

• Flexible degrees– Accredited– Non-accredited– Create your own

• Multiple paths– Multiple entry points– Multiple graduation points– Self-paced and self-directed

Flexible Curriculum

• Options– Traditional majors– Allow for student interests– Explore various “majors”– Create your own “majors”– Easy to change “majors”

• Time available to explore other pursuits• International experience

– Semester or year overseas

• Foreign language competency

Increase Technological Literacy

• GT attracts very smart students

• Increasing numbers are not engineering majors

• Many don’t have the mathematics and science background needed to enter engineering immediately

• We need to attract greater numbers of students to technology

• Take in smart students– Show the necessity for technological

literacy for every career

• Teach them the material– Preliminary material (pre-calc, basic

science)– Engineering

• Minors, such as Eng & Mgt, don’t address this issue

Teaching Technological Literacy

New Undergraduate Trivium

• Basic knowledge

• Engineering knowledge

• Liberal knowledge

Basic Knowledge

• Mathematics

• Science

• Written and oral communication

• Leadership

• Humanities

• Social Science

• Wellness☺

Engineering Knowledge

• Common COE Core Courses – Design– Systems modeling and dynamics– Mechanics and materials– Thermodynamics and fluids– Computing– Etc.

• Taken early enough, ABET requirements can still be met

Liberal Knowledge

• Management

• Public Policy

• Modern Languages

• International Affairs

• Science, Technology and Society

• Economics

• Etc.

Implementation

• Four-hour classes– Fewer classes– Deeper level of understanding

• Team taught - integrated courses– Unified, rather than specialized,

fragmented, seemingly unrelated

• Experiential learning– Engineering is observation-based and

hands-on

Departmental Era

• Dichotomy in the Academy

• Undergraduate education– Disciplinary– Book learning

• Graduate education– Trans-disciplinary– Experiential learning

Post-Departmental Era

• “Unity” in the Academy

• Undergraduate education– Trans-disciplinary, experiential learning

• Graduate education– Trans-disciplinary, experiential learning

Quo Vadis Engineering Education?

• Recognition of need to change – Time for evolutionary changes has passed– What will my children do for jobs?

• Revolutionary change needed

Quo Vadis Undergraduate Engineering Education?

Liberal Engineering

Thank you for your attention

Questions?