Motivation
Purdue has a long and widely recognized tradition of educating high quality engineers, and intends to sustain that tradition. Recent national and international trends, validated by surveys of our own graduates, indicate that what is required of an excellent engineer now has evolved from past expectations (primarily solid technical skills). The attributes that characterized industry and alumni demands of engineering education in the 1970s-1980s (when Purdue was an unquestioned leader in undergraduate engineering education) have changed substantially in the past two decades. In essence, industry is seeking “renaissance engineers” who not only are technically competent, but who also have wide interests and are experts in several areas.
Objectives and Program Philosophy
Our primary program objectives are to solicit innovative proposals that will: 1) accelerate the effective and sustainable development of the target attributes of the Purdue’s Engineer of 2020 in our graduates (see target attributes listed below), and 2) to foster collaboration across the College in this endeavor including broad dissemination and uptake of effective teaching and learning strategies that will achieve the goals of the Purdue Engineer of 2020.
