Vol. 3, No. 6, November 2006
Welcome to Engineering Our World, the MIT School of Engineering's free bulletin for alumni and friends. Updated six times yearly, Engineering Our World describes some of the work we're doing at the leading edge of technological change, providing news and articles of the School's major initiatives.Past Issues
Educating the Engineer of 2020 and Beyond –
The National Discourse
by Dean Thomas L. Magnanti
We cannot be complacent about American leadership in engineering education or about our responsibility to promote innovation and sustainable systems and economies. Above all, we must ensure that universities and engineering schools are exciting, creative, adventurous, rigorous, demanding, and empowering milieus for our students.
– Charles M. Vest, MIT President Emeritus and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, speaking at the Engineering Systems Division's Brunel Lecture, October 2006
Many of you may already have heard that I have decided to step down as dean of MIT's School of Engineering some time over the next year. I want you to know that it has been an immense pleasure, indeed a privilege, to serve for nearly eight years as dean of what I have often referred to as the best engineering school in the galaxy and to collaborate with so many outstanding faculty, staff, students, alumni/ae and friends of the Institute. I am deeply appreciative for all that these many people have done to make these years so enjoyable and productive.
The spirit of creative innovation that is MIT's hallmark has continued apace in reshaping education across the School over the past eight years. In the past year alone, some exciting new programs have come online that I'd like to share with you. We never rest at MIT. We are currently taking part in the national dialog on the changing world of engineering practice and how that might shape engineering education of the future. We are also considering the role that MIT might play in opening that world to all U.S. K-12 students.