Civil engineering educators and practitioners are currently examining techniques for the improvement of civil engineering education as it moves into the 21st century. The future needs are focusing on improvement of the nontechnical abilities and skills of civil engineering graduates who, in the future, will be involved in an increasingly complex and interactive society. Along with these additional skills, future civil engineers will need to access information to keep up with an ever changing pace due to today's era of information explosion. Access to the vast interconnected knowledge base provided by the World Wide Web must now be viewed as a communication skill for future civil engineers. Communication of the kind that the Internet (through the World Wide Web sites) provides will be essential for maintaining a lifelong learning capability of students if they are to be competitive in tomorrow's work arena. Tomorrow's classroom instruction should focus in part on those computer skills that involve using the computer as a tool for information access and communication. Through this new technology, civil engineering educators must train students to be information gatherers since students will no longer be able to memorize and retain all of the expanding information they will need to be successful in their careers. Faculty must now adapt to change to prepare students to communicate effectively in oral, written, and on-line formats.

Computer applications are being utilized in the design process at a greater rate, and off-the-shelf software seems to be very popular in progressive design firms wishing to reduce their design time. This paper identifies the reasoning for utilizing customized software in the design process, while keeping in mind that this is not a “black box” approach, but rather a well-designed and rigorously tested “automated design concept.” The emphasis is placed on safety, and an increase in one's ability to “verify” the data, and the design. Customized software is an important tool that may greatly reduce design time, and remedial design costs. It can improve one's competitive edge in a global market.

The North American Free Trade Agreement was the impetus for great change in North America. By removing tariffs between North American countries, it paved the way for the formation of a North American trade bloc in the international trade arena. In the engineering profession, it was the start of a long series of changes required to allow for multinational practice. The specifics of practice throughout North America are defined in the changes in licensure, professional activity, and business issues.

What's an engineer's worst nightmare? To realize that the wind-bracing system he designed for a skyscraper like Citicorp Center is flawed—and hurricane season is approaching. In 1978, William J. LeMessurier, one of the nation's leading structural engineers, discovered, after Citicorp Center was completed and occupied, conceptual errors pertaining to joint weakness, tension, and wind force. Alarmed by the magnitude of the errors and the danger they presented, LeMessurier acknowledged the flaws, immediately drew up new plans, and saw that all of the necessary changes to the braces were put into effect. LeMessurier's exemplary behavior—encompassing honesty, courage, adherence to ethics, and social responsibility—during the ordeal remains a testimony to the ideal meaning of the word, “professional.”

Engineering education in the United States traces its roots to 1824 when the Rensselaer School was founded in Troy, New York by Amos Eaton and Stephen Van Rensselaer. This school, while initially founded to teach the application of science to the common purposes of life, quickly became an engineering school and in 1835 awarded the first civil engineering degree in the country. Eaton's philosophy of education was radically different from most of his colleagues in that he believed in learning by doing, not learning by telling. His five rules of education, which he developed in the early years of the college, are still valid today, and educators of the 21st century might learn a great deal by modifying their pedagogical techniques to bring them in line with Eaton.

In this paper the authors take note of several selected hypothetical situations germane to the profession, the influence of interdisciplinary factors affecting engineering practice, projects, and such, as well as the current education processes preparing prospective engineering graduates for professional status. Also mentioned is the need for professional unity and leadership both to strengthen ethics and standards, within the profession, as well as to prevail against outside interventionists who seek to override engineering judgements and thereby lead to unwanted and unwarranted aftereffects. Lastly, the authors make note of the need for a unified global society, one which can provide leadership for and discipline the membership, as needed.

Limit states steel design was first introduced into Australia late in 1990 with the release of the AS4100 steel structures standard. This represented a significant departure from contemporary design procedures in place at the time because of the limit states design philosophy, and the adoption of much new material in the AS4100 which was based on the findings of recent research. The educational strategies, particularly those for practicing engineers, required great care in their implementation. The paper reviews the five years after the release of the AS4100, and shows how the transition to limit states design at the writing of this technical note is all but complete. Although simple, the strategies may with little modification be deployed for the remaining nations where limit states design is to be introduced.