Engineering Systems Education

In a somewhat recent post I wrote about the need for renaissance engineers, that is, engineers who can move beyond their narrow disciplinary lens of engineering when looking at a problem. Engineering problems need more than just purely technical solutions. Virtually any project touches humanity in some way, and this element cannot be ignored if success is to be achieved.

So what are we doing to develop holistic problem-solving capabilities? Last month I attended the IESS Conference at MIT, sponsored by CESUN, the Council of Engineering Systems Universities. I had the opportunity to meet with professors and researchers from around the world and learn some about what they were doing to address this challenge. There are dozens of interdisciplinary programs in place right now that are training students to solve problems using knowledge from a variety of disciplines, and it was inspiring to see this level of activity in interdisciplinary engineering research and education.

At IESS Chuck Vest discussed how engineering research has focused in recent years on narrow or small-scale topics, such as nanoscale engineering, but that macro-scale topics are getting increased attention now. Some of the most important challenges society faces, he explained, are large-scale problems that span many disciplines, such as health care, energy, environmental, manufacturing, communication, and logistics problems. Vest pointed out that employers are now seeking engineers who are trained in more than one area. We need people who understand not only engineering, but engineering and economics, health care, public policy, or psychology (for example). In particular, we need people who understand the interface between these disciplines. Spectacular challenges, opportunities, and surprises lie within these interfaces.

Growth in the number and maturity of interdisciplinary engineering education programs, such as those affiliated with CESUN, is essential to gaining a deeper understanding of these interfaces and solving the macro-scale problems that society faces now. As an example of one of these programs, the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) at MIT offers several graduate degrees in engineering systems, which MIT defines as:

1. A class of systems characterized by a high degree of technical complexity, social intricacy, and elaborate processes, aimed at fulfilling important functions in society. Such systems include electrical grids, transportation, manufacturing supply chains, and health care delivery.
2. An emerging field of scholarship that seeks solutions to important, multi-faceted socio-technical problems.

ESD focuses on four domains: energy and sustainability, extended enterprises, health care and delivery, and critical infrastructures. There are numerous other approaches to interdisciplinary engineering research and education. Other examples include the University of Michigan’s Design Science program, which offers an interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree that requires students to choose coursework and research topics that span engineering and at least one other discipline (such as marketing, psychology, or public policy). Yet another strategy is to specialize in the interface between engineering and one specific second discipline, as is done at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

There seemed to be nearly as many pedagogical approaches to (and definitions of) engineering systems at IESS as there were institutions represented. This is a fantastically complex, emerging area of study, so this variety is not unexpected. In any case, it was clear that we had a lot to learn from each other, and there is a lot of exciting and important work to be done. I hope this broader approach to engineering, and the greater focus on the link between engineering and society, will inspire more people to study engineering and engineering systems, and perhaps attract other professionals from disciplines other than engineering to get engaged in collaborative work to solve engineering systems problems.