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Debasish (Deba) Dutta and Lalit Patil
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and
James B. Porter, Jr.
Vice President (retired), E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
In cooperation with the
National Academy of Engineering
of the National Academies
and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this monograph was developed
with the input of a National Academy of Engineering advisory committee.
Work on the project was supported by the National Science Foundation under
Grant No. DBE-1044307 to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(UIUC), by the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professorship at
UIUC, and by the National Academy of Engineering Fund.
The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this
publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Engineering, or
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
A PDF version is available at www.nap.edu
Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating
society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering
research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their
use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by
the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the
federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is
president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the
charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of
outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the
selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the
responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of
Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national
needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior
achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National
Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy
of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate
professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the
public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National
Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal
government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care,
research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of
Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of
Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal
government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the
Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in
providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engi-
neering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies
and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest
are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
www.national-academies.org
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Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering
ABOUT PROJECT
THE
The Lifelong Learning Imperative (LLI) project was initiated to assess current
practices in lifelong learning for engineering professionals, reexamine the
underlying assumptions behind those practices, and outline strategies for
addressing unmet needs.
A project-framing workshop was organized by the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in partnership with the National Academy of
Engineering (NAE) in June 2009 to examine the issues relevant to lifelong
learning in engineering. A UIUC research team then conducted a survey-based
assessment of the issues identified in the 2009 workshop. Preliminary findings
from the UIUC study were presented at a second workshop in October 2011 at
which these issues were examined more fully. This monograph reflects the
opinions of the authors based on the UIUC team’s survey analysis and learning
from the discussions at the 2011 workshop.
iv
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Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering
U N I V E R S I T Y O F I L L I N O I S A T U R B A N A -C H A M P A I G N
PROJECT RESEARCH TEAM
DEBASISH (DEBA) DUTTA, Project Director, Scholar in Residence,
National Academy of Engineering; Dean of the Graduate College and Edward
William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor, Department of Mechanical Science
and Engineering
LALIT PATIL, Principal Researcher, Mechanical Science and Engineering
MD. SHAKIL BIN KASHEM, Applied Technologies for Learning in the
Arts and Sciences (ATLAS)
DAWN OWENS-NICHOLSON, ATLAS
MARYALICE WU, ATLAS
NATIONAL ACADEMY ENGINEERING ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OF
ON
LIFELONG LEARNING ENGINEERING
IN
JAMES B. PORTER, JR., Chair, Vice President (retired), E. I. du Pont de
Nemours and Company
NICHOLAS DONOFRIO (NAE), IBM Executive Vice President (retired),
and Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation
JAMES DUDERSTADT (NAE), President Emeritus and University Professor,
University of Michigan
C. DANIEL MOTE (NAE), President Emeritus and Glenn R. Martin Institute
Professor of Engineering, University of Maryland
PATRICK NATALE, Executive Director, American Society of Civil Engineers
RICHARD RIFF, Henry Ford Technical Fellow (retired), Ford Motor Company
BETTY SHANAHAN, Executive Director and CEO, Society of Women
Engineers
TANA UTLEY, CTO and Vice President, Caterpillar Inc.
PHILIP WOODROW, Executive Director, Merck & Co.
v
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Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support for the October 2011
workshop provided by the Division of Graduate Education, Directorate of
Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation through Grant
DGE-1044307. They also acknowledge financial support from the Edward
William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professorship at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign and from the National Academy of Engineering Fund.
The authors thank the following organizations for helping to recruit participants
for the survey: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), American Society of
Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME),
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society for Biomaterials
(SFB), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Society of Women Engineers
(SWE); AMD, Caterpillar Inc., DuPont, Ford Motor Company, IBM, and Merck;
and the University of Illinois Alumni Association.
The authors also thank all participants at the October 2011 workshop. The
conversations and insights gained in that workshop provided guidance on the
structure and content of this monograph.
Finally, the authors thank the members of the NAE organizing committee for the
2009 project-framing workshop, the NAE Lifelong Learning in Engineering
project advisory committee, and the research team at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for their valuable contributions to the project.
This monograph has been subjected to a confidential review in draft form by
individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The
purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments to
the authors to assist in making this publication as sound as possible. The review
comments and draft manuscript remain confidential. We thank the following
individuals for their review of this monograph:
Nicholas Donofrio (NAE), IBM Executive Vice President (retired), and Senior
Fellow, Kauffman Foundation
James Duderstadt (NAE), President Emeritus and University Professor,
University of Michigan
Betty Shanahan, Executive Director and CEO, Society of Women Engineers
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and
suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the opinions or conclusions of the
authors nor did they see the final draft of the publication before its release.
Responsibility for its final content rests entirely with the authors.
vii
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Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering
FOREWORD
The Lifelong Learning Imperative (LLI) project brought together leaders of US
industry, academia, government, and professional societies to assess the current
state of lifelong learning of engineers; to examine the need for, and nature of,
lifelong learning going forward; and to explore responsibilities and potential
actions for the primary stakeholders.
The United States is facing a crisis in its engineering workforce just as global
competition is becoming very intense. During the next several years there will be
massive retirements of skilled and experienced engineers, and the United States
has one of the lowest rates of graduation of bachelor level engineers in the world:
only 4.5 percent of our university graduates are engineers. The issue is especially
acute in the national security industry because of citizenship requirements.
Perhaps even more critical, the pace of technological change continues to
accelerate, making the specifics of engineering education and skill development
obsolete in short order. A critical part of our corporate and national strategy to
address this looming crisis should be to ramp up the quality and opportunity for
lifelong learning for our engineering workforce. This would not only enhance the
quality and competitiveness of our engineers, but also enrich the quality of their
professional life, improve their capacity to innovate, and widen their fields of
opportunity.
For too long the issue of lifelong learning for engineers has been on the back
burner, even as American industry has heavily invested in MBA and executive
business education. A plan for vigorous, continual intellectual renewal through
broad-based commitment to lifelong learning could have a powerful role in
ensuring that the United States remains competitive in the face of accelerating
technological change and pressures on an aging US engineering workforce that is
not being replenished sufficiently rapidly.
Charles M. Vest
President
National Academy of Engineering
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Lifelong Learning Imperative in Engineering
CONTENTS
Lifelong Learning and Today’s Engineer................................................................. 1
The Importance of Engineering ............................................................................. 1
The Educational Needs of Today’s (and Tomorrow’s) Engineer .......................... 1
Lifelong Learning Outside the United States......................................................... 2
The Lifelong Learning Imperative Project: A Brief History ................................. 3
The Lifelong Learning Imperative Project: Findings ............................................ 4
Research Results....................................................................................................... 6
Motivation for Lifelong Learning Opportunities ................................................... 6
Barriers to Lifelong Learning for Individuals........................................................ 7
Barriers to Employer Support of Lifelong Learning Opportunities....................... 9
Drivers for Development of Content for Lifelong Learning................................ 10
The Role of Various Stakeholders ....................................................................... 11
Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 12
For Businesses ..................................................................................................... 12
For Professional Engineering Societies ............................................................... 13
For Educational Institutions................................................................................. 14
For Policymakers ................................................................................................. 14
APPENDICES
A June 17-18, 2009, Workshop Organizing Committee and Workshop Agenda.. 16
B Lifelong Learning in Engineering Web-based Interview Questions ................. 19
C Lifelong Learning in Engineering Online Survey Instrument ........................... 21
D September 11-12, 2011, Workshop Agenda...................................................... 31
E 2011 LLI Survey Respondent Pool Characteristics ........................................... 32
F Author Biographies ............................................................................................ 34
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