Proposed Program to Combine Engineering, Humanities, and Arts

Earlier I wrote about the need for educational programs that link technical subjects with other topics so that graduates are better equipped to solve complex problems. We do a pretty good job at training engineers in technical subjects, and are working to improve soft skills as well, but we still have a ways to go toward graduating ‘renaissance’ engineers who are skilled at linking technical aspects with societal, environmental, or other facets of challenging problems.

A proposed program at the University of Windsor would help address this issue. This new program would ‘combine engineering with the humanities and arts.’ This program would culminate in a bachelors degree, whereas many other interdisciplinary engineering programs are restricted to the graduate level. Waguih ElMaraghy, department head of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, explains that engineers now must solve ‘not only technical problems, but social technical problems.’ Students of this program would have opportunity to study at the interface between disciplines, and work toward becoming ‘renaissance’ engineers.