Practical Experience and Engineering Education

There have been many changes in the practice of engineering education in recent years, in large part leading to a more scientifically and theoretically trained graduate but one less familiar with the real world of engineering practice. At least two articles have appeared lately in IEEE SPECTRUM (Harvey Brooks' "Dilemmas of Engineering Education," Feb., pages 89-91, and Aaron J. Teller's "The Philosophy of an Engineering Educator," Mar., pages 124-128) that raised a red flag and either described or suggested programs intended to provide a more realistic and practical experience for the engineering student. In order to give our readers a wider sampling of opinion on this subject, several leaders in education, government, and industry were asked to present their pertinent thoughts in a written panel discussion, or collection of short essays. Each was furnished with a preprint of Dr. Brooks' article with the suggestion that he direct his attention to the question: "Is more industrial involvement or practical experience important to engineering education and, if so, how can this best be implemented?" The resulting observations, with some afterthoughts, are rather interesting.

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