Civil Engineering Crisis

This paper addresses the issue of a crisis in civil engineering. In the past, civil engineers were pioneers of our civilization; today, they are rarely perceived as leaders and innovators. The author urges civil engineers to use the present challenges to change and adapt the profession to new demands in order to regain engineering’s leadership. The process of globalization is briefly discussed as an important component of the present situation. Next, the concept of the twenty-first-century civil engineer as a modern reincarnation of the “Renaissance man” with a focus on engineering creativity, computing, and globalization is proposed. The proposed twenty-first-century civil engineer is characterized by his/her body of knowledge (BOK) with five major components: civil engineering factual knowledge, analytical knowledge and skills, engineering creativity knowledge and skills, computing knowledge and skills, and globalization knowledge and skills. The author recommends that the BOK be balanced in terms of qualitative and quantitative knowledge. The teaching of engineering creativity, computing, and globalization is also discussed. In conclusion, a paradigm change is proposed from the present quantitative teaching paradigm to a new, balanced paradigm, which would provide evenhanded instruction on both qualitative and quantitative knowledge.