Strategic Design Engineering: A Contemporary Paradigm for Engineering Design Education for the 21st Century?

Abstract

It is clear that in the United States, our current students will face a different set of challenges in their careers than faced by earlier generations. Some trends are clear—while Moore's Law holds, computing will become more ubiquitous and less expensive. For design engineers this may well have two consequences: (1) complex engineered systems must be developed and deployed more rapidly with sustainability becoming increasingly important and (2) the availability of computational power will make the “process of designâ€‌ faster and easier with an increasing emphasis on problem identification, formulation, and team work. I suggest that the realization of complex engineered systems necessitates the management of dilemmas in integrating sustainability and social justice with technical efficiency. Design engineers will increasingly be called on to serve different segments of the global product value chain associated with the realization of complex systems. Hence, in this editorial, I focus on the education of Strategic Design Engineers—engineers who are adept at conceiving and realizing engineered complex systems and balancing technical realization with sustainability and social responsibility.