“As our world is re-engineered, more people need to learn how engineers analyze, design and operate. Engineering concepts such as modular design and feedback control can become part of citizens’ vernacular, just like inflation and trade deficit from economics. Sure, it’s interesting. But it’s also integral to daily life.
As the dean of one of America’s preeminent engineering schools, I’m not advocating a complete makeover of college curricula. But I do believe a base understanding of certain big ideas would begin to give people the oars to navigate technology’s rapids. A glimpse of how encryption for privacy works, or an effort to demystify the cloud, or a whiff of context around machine-learning algorithms could make technology more accessible and something to embrace rather than fear.”
– by Mung Chiang