Mechanical Aptitude Unless we understand the engineer as a Renaissance person, we may well be back in the dark ages

摘要

I'm worried about the future of engineering. In the West, interest in studying engineering has been on the wane for years. In the U.K., less than half of engineering graduates choose to enter the profession, lured instead by careers in finance and product marketing. It's a similar story in the U.S.: For the past 10 years, the number of Master's degrees awarded in engineering has declined by nearly 30 percent. Why the shortfall? Perception. Young people don't associate engineering with improving quality of life. They see people repairing air-conditioning units or servicing cars: maintenance rather than invention. The truth is that engineers do much more. They design bridges. They harness renewable energy. They create new technologies. Engineering is the union of invention, science, and design-communicating that scope is vital to reigniting interest in the field.