Spring/Summer '07: Education for "The Engineer of the Future"

At every point in its storied history, RPI has been engaged in perpetual innovation—not just in its research laboratories, but also in the classroom. At all levels, the institute’s brain trust has anticipated the needs of its students and met them with novel approaches to curriculum and methodology. The reason is simple: because the engineering workplace of the next decade will look decidedly different from its counterpart in the last decade. As we offer innovation to our students, we attract the nation’s best and brightest, star researchers and promising undergraduates.

This commitment to innovation is all the more imperative as we reflect further on the recommendations of our new School of Engineering Advisory Council. Tomorrow’s engineers must have a skill set and a perspective that far outstrip those of their predecessors: not just a full grounding in science and mathematics, but a deep understanding of diverse cultures; not just expertise in a specific engineering discipline, but the aptitude to work in teams and understand complex, interdisciplinary systems. Many of our innovations in education—the O. T. Swanson Multidisciplinary Design Laboratory, our Inventors Studio, our Professional Development Programs, and others—are specifically designed to help students gain the skills and values they need to succeed long after commencement.

Tomorrow’s engineers must have a skill set and a perspective that far outstrip those of their predecessors: not just a full grounding in science and mathematics, but a deep understanding of diverse cultures; not just expertise in a specific engineering discipline, but the aptitude to work in teams and understand complex, interdisciplinary systems.

This issue of School of Engineering News stands as testimony to both the results of that innovation and the talent behind it. Programs such as the Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize and the Undergraduate Research Forum and Awards have produced outstanding research from those who will, before long, enter the workplace fully prepared for success. Students such as Jason Coutermarsh and Kamron Fazel have done much more than complete abstract exercises: the results of their research have an excellent chance of succeeding in the marketplace.

By fostering such a climate of innovation, we attract innovators—and their names appear throughout this issue. While all our students learn how to be entrepreneurs, some come to us as entrepreneurs, as the story of the Gutins makes clear. On the faculty side, many of our leading researchers innovate to address the world’s most pressing needs, from finding antidotes for anthrax to optimizing transportation networks for energy efficiency. Just recently I was proud to promote six of our faculty members for their highly praised work. Their dedication extends well beyond the laboratory: under their tutelage, undergraduates have co-written refereed articles, assisted with high-level research, and worked with robotics in the classroom, to name just three examples. This type of innovation—in which we equip students with the technical knowledge and the values to thrive in the future—will always reside at the core of our curriculum. It is a commitment that is absolutely essential as we develop the “Rensselaer Engineer of the Future.”

Download this article