Inauguration symposium

Newspeak staff photo / ed cameron

Dr Frederick Hutchinson, Dr. David Kettler, and Dr. Mark Little discuss the future of education in an increasingly technological world at last Friday's Inauguration Day Symposium.

The topic of the symposium on Inauguration Day was "The New Liberal Education for the Age of Technology." What changes in education will result from technology becoming so prevalent? What can colleges and universities do to prepare their graduates for life in an increasingly complex technological world? The panelists were Joseph M. Hinchey, Business Executive, Engineer, and Lawyer; Douglas R. Bowman, Director of Electronics and Information Technology, Lockheed Martin Corporation; Eleanor Baum, Dean of the School of Engineering, Cooper Union and President-Elect, Accredidation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); Frederick E. Hutchinson, President, University of Maine; David A. Kettler, Executive Director, Science and Technology, BellSouth; Mark M. Little, Vice President, Power Generation Engineering, GE Power Systems; Edward A. Parrish, President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and George D. Peterson, Executive Director, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

First Bowman spoke on what he felt were the three most important factors to consider. The first is factor is the context in which technology occurs. What are the social and environmental impacts of new technology? These thoughts are becoming more common as people become more conscious of the world around them, and how significantly new technologies affect this world. The second factor is differences in the workplace, which includes automation of processes and information technology. "The lone engineer has gone the way of the Lone Ranger," saud Bowman, referring to the fact that workers seldom work alone on projects these days, which shows another significant change in the workplace. The third factor is the half-life of technology. When something is produced, something faster, smaller, and cheaper comes out very quickly.

Baum then spoke from a more education-oriented viewpoint. She said that faculty should not be conveyors of information, but they should teach good communication skills, how to work well in teams, and the context in which engineering is practiced (which was Bowman's first point). To do this, she says, one has to rethink the way one teaches. Knowledge must be integrated into different fields. Simply adding courses to a curriculum, for example, does not make one more well-versed in that field. There must be a synthesis between courses in order for significance to be derived from the additional learning. She also stated that knowing how to use technology is more than knowing how to use a computer for word processing or email.

President Parrish discussed the need to devise a metric for measuring how to judge the abilities of students and the potential that an institution would have to instruct them in a well-rounded curriculum. Past metrics included the number of students in a class and the student-teacher ratio, but there need to be more meaningful measurements.

Baum stated that the notion of the university meaning "all things to all people" is gone, to which Kettler gave the commercial analogy of outsourcing - breaking a task into sections and distributing the sections to other companies. Peterson said that it was necessary to connect the human spirit to the age of technology. He also stated that the outcome which schools wish to produce in the new technological age must be made clear to students so it makes more sense to them.

Little suggested some important qualities to keep in mind. Keep the proven technical background, he said, but go beyond intellectual applications and go to real world applications. Focus on how people work together and interact. Bowman added to this, stating that basic knowledge does not equal practical knowledge. Baum noted that faculty hear mixed messages from industry: the president of a corporation will have some lofty view about what new hires should be like - versed, well-rounded, and so on - which is not equal to what recruiters look for, which is usually just the technical courses.

Would industry be willing to pay for a five-year college program to help students learn the finer aspects of education? Would industry add five or six thousand dollars to the average starting salary? Kettler suggested that it depends of what kind of product is produced - how well educated would the student be? Bowman stated that industry would pay.

Baum stated that the function of engineering schools is not just to make students for industry. She said that the biggest employee of Cooper Union graduates was the finance industry. They interviewed engineers to get smart people who are good with numbers, who have an ability for problem solving and quick learning, and who know how to "manage uncertainty".

The symposium was a worthwhile exchange of intelligent thoughts on the importance of technology what its role should be in the education of students.

newspeak staff photo / ed cameron

President Parrish discussed the finer aspects of technology education with a panel of business and education leaders last Saturday.