Watershed Design: Principles for Training Students for the Future

At the University of Washington College of Forest Resources, we have established various pathways to improve the training of students who will work on watershed issues. At the undergraduate level, the College of Forest Resources offers a minor in Streamside Studies and the undergraduate curriculum in Forest Engineering has been reformulated to include options that emphasize natural systems. The minor consists of 1 course in each of 5 core topics, hydrology, ecology, fisheries, geomorphology plus a weekly seminar organized by the Center for Streamside Studies that covers a wide range of topics related to watershed management. Students then take additional credits to gain in-depth knowledge in physical, biological or social systems. At the graduate level, the Forest Engineering and Hydrology program uses a capstone design class to train students in watershed design. The class emphasizes the use of design principles as developed by Nam Suh. Students work in groups with a client to develop well-defined Functional Requirements (FRs) and Design Parameters (DPs). These principles are then put into a context of ecological engineering. This leads to a design process that includes an appreciation for the relationship of organisms (including humans) with their environment, and the constraints on design imposed by the complexity, variability and uncertainty inherent in natural systems. This paper will discuss the development of these programs and what changes we think are necessary in engineering education.