The Engineer of 2020 : Visions of Engineering in the New Century

To enhance the nation's economic productivity and improve the quality of life worldwide, engineering education in the United States must anticipate and adapt to the dramatic changes of engineering practice. The Engineer of 2020 urges the engineering profession to recognize what engineers can build for the future through a wide range of leadership roles in industry, government, and academia--not just through technical jobs. Engineering schools should attract the best and brightest students and be open to new teaching and training approaches. With the appropriate education and training, the engineer of the future will be called upon to become a leader not only in business but also in nonprofit and government sectors. The book finds that the next several decades will offer more opportunities for engineers, with exciting possibilities expected from nanotechnology, information technology, and bioengineering. Other engineering applications, such as transgenic food, technologies that affect personal privacy, and nuclear technologies, raise complex social and ethical challenges. Future engineers must be prepared to help the public consider and resolve these dilemmas along with challenges that will arise from new global competition, requiring thoughtful and concerted action if engineering in the United States is to retain its vibrancy and strength. Three appendices are included: (1) Scenarios; (2) Workshop Attendees; and (3) Biographical Sketches of Committee Members. (Individual chapters contain references.) This report is the result of an initiative of the National Academy of Engineering that attempts to prepare for the future of engineering by asking the question, "What will or should engineering be like in 2020?" Following an overview of likely future technological changes and challenges that will impact that world and the engineering profession, the report addresses societal, geopolitical, and professional contexts within which engineering and its new technologies will exist, and sets out aspirations for engineering in 2020 if the US is to maintain its economic leadership. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)