How to SEE Design in the Future

The engineering profession is at a cross roads. Some professional associations are proposing that a Masters degree be required to enter practice while certain sectors of the structural engineering community feel a Bachelors degree should continue to be the requirement for entering the engineering profession. Regardless, both sides are trying to identify the minimum level of competency required to solve today's problems safely, economically, and efficiently (SEE). Engineering curriculum should be established that not only prepares graduates to SEE design projects, but also prepare students to face the problems of tomorrow and enable them to articulate those solutions to building owners, building designers and building contractors. The engineer of the future must possess the same skills as those of today, engineering dexterity, a bit of vision, and an ability to communicate with a variety of professionals. This requires a solid understanding of basic engineering principles, a solid understanding of how buildings behave, and a solid understanding of how a building is pieced together. Additionally, the engineer of tomorrow must look outward; beyond the confines or comfort zone of the traditional engineering world. The engineer of tomorrow will need to be prepared in the art of communicating: writing, verbal, and graphical and more importantly how the engineering profession is incorporated in the business world. Engineering education will continue to emphasize the basics of structural fundamentals, but there is also a need to expose students to those facets of the profession that enable one to bridge the gap between other designer professionals and between engineers and owners.