Visioning transition: A framework for collaborative change

Tomorrow's engineers will look nothing like the engineers of the past. Aside from a proficiency in core, technical knowledge, tomorrow's engineers will require a collection of non-engineering skills and competencies to successfully function in a dynamic, global environment. Technical competency will always be viewed as an integral skill; differential advantage however, will be gained by those individuals that can communicate effectively, and participate fully in an organization's different functional realms. What has motivated this vision and rethinking of the engineering discipline? Where are we in the journey to prepare our students for an engineering working environment characterized by a global, integrated and multi-disciplinary nature? And finally, is it possible, or should it be necessary, for traditional engineering education systems to fundamentally change to meet corporate requirements? These are but a few of the compelling issues discussed in this paper.