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Fostering Inventiveness in Engineering Education – an International Perspective

Zbigniew Prusak Central Connecticut State University

Abstract

Who is an engineer? What set of creative and other capabilities should an engineer posses? What should be taught and what can be developed with experience? This paper describes some basic differences in views on substance of engineering knowledge and inventiveness, as well as pluses and minuses of some aspects of engineering education in North America, Europe and Eastern Asia. Views by industrial leaders and engineering professionals from different countries on weaknesses in preparation of mechanical engineering graduates for professional carrier and its challenges are also included. University role in preparation of professionals versus industry short- term and long-term demands for skills of a graduate is described from perspectives of engineering professors and engineering professionals advising applied engineering programs. Engineers of the future: ‘inventors’ or ‘improvers’? Should students be taught how to invent or how to improve first? Can inventiveness be taught? This paper attempts to show how the answers to the above questions differ among cultures and various models of engineering education.

1. Introduction

Significance accorded to engineering knowledge, engineering skills and inventiveness vary from country to country. Learning process starting in early childhood and teaching methods used reflect functioning of the society a person is raised in. The result is formation of a professional molded by the society to its cultural and ethical environment and largely to its self-perceived needs. Technological competition on the global market requires a deeper insight into a significance of various aspects of engineering knowledge and inventiveness. Different approaches to the education of engineers should be scrutinized and recognized for their strengths and weaknesses. It is widely accepted in North American culture, that reasons a person is gifted intellectually or physically, is creative or inventive can be traced to person’s inborn talent. Creativity and other talents cannot be acquired by learning; hence teaching them is fairly pointless. A champion sportsman is made of 80% of inborn talent and 20% of hard work. On the other hand, the hard work and focus on goals are among the cornerstones of North American culture. In contrast to the above perception of the origins of personal talents, cultures in East Asia and to some degree in Central Europe emphasize continuous hard work as the most important virtue of successful

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright Ó 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

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Prusak, Z. (2002, June), Fostering Inventiveness In Engineering Education An International Perspective Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10874