In a recent paper1, the author and a colleague discussed the need for enhanced design education in the engineering curricula in this country, and an appropriate role for industry in an improved partnership with our universities and the government aimed at enhancing engineering education in general. Based on feedback from several presentations and a publication2 of this basic material, it becomes clear that enhancing design education is only part of a needed major paradigm shift in the way we view engineering and the appropriate education of engineers. The purpose of this paper is to outline and provide a rationale for such a paradigm shift; and suggest the major role industry must play in this endeavor if we are to remain competitive into the next century.
par.a.digm (par'e dim) n. [< Gr. para-, beside + deigma, example]
1. an example or model
--Webster's New World Dictionary
A scientist discovers that which exists. An engineer creates that which never was.
--Th. von Karman
The mind is not a receptacle; information is not education. Education is what remains after the information that has been taught has been forgotten.
W.Ernst Eder
(after Benjamin Franklin)