Educating Future Engineers – Meeting Challenges at Secondary School and University

Abstract

Serious shortages of qualified professionals and technical job-specific skills are hampering Europe’s sustainable growth. Even more so, relatively newer technologies, such as digitalization and Industry 4.0, require a new set of qualifications for future engineers. Deficiencies in these areas can have a negative impact on innovation and, therefore, also for the well-being of the industry and economy. New skills in education as well as new training methods are required in order to train successful engineers that meet the requirements set by industry and society. How does a future engineering education look like? To get a qualified picture of the necessary requirements, as well as possible limitations, different stakeholders, such as teachers, students of engineering studies and pupils in secondary schools or vocational schools have been questioned. This survey was combined with a literature review. Furthermore, a recently finished EU-research project regarding this subject has been taken into consideration and been evaluated in order to come up with future solutions.