Although change in engineering education has been a continual topic of discussion among engineering educators for the past century, the intensity of the discussion has increased over the past decade. The NSF and others have encouraged and supported innovation; we have had several conferences, workshops, and studies. These efforts have produced a consensus about what engineering education should be, including appropriate curriculum content, innovative approaches to teaching, and involvement of students. Realizing (putting in place) the change needed in engineering education programs across the country has become the current barrier that must be surmounted for engineering education to serve its stakeholders even better. The conference seeks to increase the participation of colleges of engineering in Systemic Engineering Education Reform (SEER).

The conference explored what an individual institution does to change from its present approach to the new engineering education, one that seeks to develop students as emerging professionals with the motivation, capability, and knowledge base for life-long learning; one that helps students see the whole world and sense the coupling among seemingly disparate fields; one that incorporates a diversity of backgrounds and approaches; and one that enhances student capability to build connections between the world of learning and the world beyond.

The conference, of necessity, included a brief discussion of how one describes, in broad terms, the new engineering education. Most of the conference sessions examined what changes the engineering school makes to realize the new paradigm for engineering education.

A proceedings for the conference will be available this fall.

Several individuals from Gateway Coalition schools participated:

Ed Ernst, University of South Carolina

Irene Peden, National Visiting Committee

Nihat Bilgutay, Drexel University

Mort Friedman, Columbia University

Art Glenn, National Visiting Committee

Jack McGourty, Assessment Coordinator

John Weidner, University of South Carolina

Eleanor Baum, The Cooper Union

Dan Davis, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Joe Gibbons, University of South Carolina

Marca Lam, The Cooper Union

Jed Lyons, University of South Carolina

William McShane, Polytechnic University

Robert Quinn, Drexel University

Henry Shaw, New Jersey Institute of Technology ¨