Importance of Research at Undergraduate Level

Abstract

All of us are aware of the critical but exciting evolution of research universities from the 1960s until today, a metamorphosis in which universities have gone from insular " ivory towers " to key drivers of economic prosperity. This has resulted in dramatically expanded missions for engineering colleges and the program of engi-neering education. Leading global experts have described the global drivers of those expanding missions in terms of accessible and inexpensive global communi-cations, global partnerships, globalization, expanding access to higher education, expanding opportunities for talent, cost control, innovation, global " grand " chal-lenges, and leadership challenges. Recent global discussions related to the transfor-mation of engineering education have emphasized that excellent pedagogy in engineering education can benefi t greatly from the appropriate use of today's rap-idly developing information and communication technology. A wide variety of approaches to the use of ICT greatly improve learning experiences by providing more personalized and effective learning environments for students. In addition, approaches such as MOOCS are rapidly making educational opportunities avail-able to people who otherwise would not have access to college courses. Not only are MOOCS making high-quality educational courses available to an unprece-dented number of students, these courses also provide a plethora of student data that helps advance learning science and provides guidance and feedback which can be used to improve student education. The widespread use of ICT in engineering 4 education is in its early stages. It seems clear from the global ongoing discussions during the last couple of years that this fi eld will continue to develop rapidly and has the potential to transform global engineering education in the relatively near future. Strongly infl uenced by the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the moderator of the panel focused on numerous critical strategic issues confronted by the global engineering education community. These issues focused on the real-ity that the combination of global connectivity and accelerating change will increasingly create abrupt disruptions and that universities and colleges will need to fundamentally change their mindset to be able to respond to those changes. The fact that too many colleges are behind in the use of new technologies in their overall culture is deeply disturbing and presents a real challenge. Partnerships globally will be embedded in the engineering culture and will characterize engi-neering operations for many if not most of it functions. Students must be prepared to effectively engage in the global community. " Working around the world " for them will be similar to " working around the country " which has been the para-digm in the past. It has become increasingly clear that the engineer's reality is global. Engineering colleges should nurture global talent in leadership, manage-ment, and " current skills " for professionals across disciplines through targeted degree and certifi cate programs. They are poised to create university-wide cultures of innovation that would extend beyond their campuses to surrounding communities and beyond. They will engage multidisciplinary teams, usually led by engineering, focusing on great global challenges such as environmental degra-dation, climate change, and other universal issues. Shaping the university and college cultures so that they can contribute and prosper under these world drivers is the most important and interesting responsibility of university and college lead-ership today and engineering will play a central role in all of these strategic challenges.