The Plan for Union calls for the creation of an engineering program whose excellence derives from its unique position in a liberal arts college and whose focus in on converging technologies. Union College discussed engineering's future direction with Dean of Engineering Robert Balmer.
Q: Where are we now with engineering?
A: During the past six years Union's engineering faculty have been developing programs that distinguish themselves by their placement at a liberal arts college. With the GE Foundation curriculum development grant, we have come a long way toward our goal of being more than a set of traditional engineering programs. We have seen curricular changes in the freshman and sophomore years, the foreign experience requirement, engineering design integrated throughout the curricula, the senior capstone project, enhanced undergraduate research, and leadership efforts such as the workshop we sponsored last fall on implementing curricular change in engineering education, which attracted visitors from across the country.
We have an excellent program with 307 students and twenty-five faculty. But if we are to move ahead — indeed, if we are to compete with the large state universities — we must have an exceptional program.
Q: You speak of the need to change with a good deal of urgency.
A: Part of that is because we live in a time of limited resources and intense competition, when all of our programs must enhance the institution. And, of course, it is a time when the world — and engineering — are becoming more and more complex.
But perhaps the real urgency comes because we have reached the point where we can leap beyond everyone else and produce even better graduates. Many people today think we're on the verge of another significant technological revolution, and Union can play the same role it did 100 years ago when Charles Steinmetz joined our faculty at the beginning of the electrification of America.
Q: And that brings us to converging technologies?
A: The phrase I've been using — converging technologies for a changing world — essentially links all the ideas that we have been working on into a new, modern structure.
The concept of converging technologies is most frequently used today in reference to the telecommunications industry and the computer and information technology field. This is occurring because the digitization of text, voice, and graphics enables these forms of communication to be treated as digital streams and delivered by a range of modes.
But, in fact, all forms of traditional technologies are converging via technical and computer facilitation, and the term converging technologies really applies to a wide variety of industries and technologies that are coming together to create new products and solve new problems. Bioengineering, for example, is the result of the convergence of biology and engineering; mechatronics represents the convergence of mechanical and electrical engineering; intelligent systems results from the convergence of computers and a variety of mechanical and electrical systems.
Converging technologies is a phenomenon that is going to continue to define the world of tomorrow for the foreseeable future. By embracing this concept here at Union, we will be the first undergraduate engineering school to acknowledge the impact of interacting technologies on a global basis, and we will lead the way for others.
Q: So, in a sense, this is a path we are already on?
A: Exactly. There are a number of reasons we can launch such a daring concept — we're small, flexible, and experienced with change, for example — but certainly an important reason is the fact that we are already moving in that direction.
It is this direction that we unwittingly used to construct the theme for freshman engineering this past fall (“smart cars” — a discussion of converging technologies in the automotive industry). It is the reason we find it so difficult to explain to freshmen what engineers do in the different majors — they don't just do one set of tasks any more. It is consistent with the convergence of math and physics into our Integrated Mathematics and Physics (IMP) courses. And it is consistent with the strategy of creating a college where faculty and students discover innovative ways to harness technology to improve the quality of life around the world in the twenty-first century.
Q: How will we teach converging technologies?
A: Converging technology means creating courses and programs that mix students from all engineering majors (thus converging technologies) so that they graduate with a broad technical background that goes beyond that provided by their traditional engineering major. In a very real sense, we will be reaffirming what a liberal arts education is all about — learning how to think broadly.
As I mentioned, the new fields of bioengineering, mechatronics, intelligent systems, smart structures, and intelligent transportation systems are all examples of converging technologies. Our own Computer Systems Engineering program is an example of a converging technology, since it combines traditional fields of computer science and electrical engineering. Even the new field of “distance learning” is a result of the convergence of telecommunications and educational technologies.
It's important to note that converging technologies would include more than just a melding of traditional engineering technologies. It could include various skills and disciplines across the campus. For example, one might explore combining the ideas of a computer scientist with the needs of a graphic artist or television or movie director. In order to use multimedia technologies to their utmost, one must know how to properly convey ideas or information so as to instruct someone or sell a product.
Q: How would it work?
A: When we begin to create using the tools provided by converged technologies, we are delighted by the complexity and range of possible results. The question, as you note, is how do we teach this. Where do we begin? What parts of engineering analysis and design still serve, and which need revision?
My vision for developing a new, exciting, and modern engineering curricula is to provide a structure that embraces the concept of converging technologies without completely redesigning the all curricula. I think this can be done in three steps:
— Revisit the freshman and sophomore engineering science courses and existing program technical electives to redesign them to be consistent with the vision of converging technologies where appropriate. We have already done this in the freshman course through the introduction of the “smart car” theme. This spring three of us will be experimenting with introducing converging technologies into a standard applied mechanical engineering fluid mechanics course.
— Develop three to four strategic converging technologies areas at the junior level and provide technical elective courses specific to those areas.
— Provide converging technologies working experience in the senior year through senior project or research courses. Students would work individually or in three-to-five person interdisciplinary teams on different state-of-the-art converging technology projects. These would come largely from industry partners.
Our graduates thus would not only be familiar with the concept of converging technologies, but will also have classroom and laboratory experience in several leading areas.
Q: What will it take to accomplish this?
A: Both faculty and facility resources. We are currently understaffed by six to eight faculty, and make up for it by hiring adjuncts and faculty overloads. We need to solve this because it inhibits engineering at Union from dealing effectively with the implementation of the new converging technologies initiative. I think we can do this with the reallocation of resources within the engineering division.
Of course, our faculty will have to rethink what they do and bring themselves up-to-date. I plan to develop partnerships with industry and enlist our alumni to provide short courses, summer internships, whatever it takes.
We also need to renovate Butterfield and Steinmetz, move the Office of Computing Services into its own facility, and acquire the proper laboratory equipment as needed. I'm delighted that The Plan for Union includes a commitment to upgrading the engineering complex.
Q: What kind of schedule are we looking at?
A: Three years– one year to develop the technical electives, one year to make appropriate program changes, and one year to pilot the implementation.
Some currently leading edge converging technologies that will change the world (from Technology Review, January, 2001):
— biocomputers (organic based molecular level computers and brain-machine interfaces);
— smart environments (computers made from inexpensive flexible materials like clothing, plastics, etc.);
— data mining (knowledge discovery in databases);
— digital rights management (managing intellectual property in a digital Internet world);
— biometrics (identifying individuals through specific biological traits — fingerprint, iris, voice, and face recognition, etc.);
— natural language processing (verbal computer interface);
— microphotonics (optical switching technologies for directing light on a microscopic scale that will move telecommunications to the next level);
— intelligent robots (complex multitasking robots that can learn from their environment and evolve);
— microfluidics (microscopic scale fluidic chip technologies — DNA analyzer, cell sorter, implantable drug delivery devices, etc.).