The Civil Engineering Profession Today and Tomorrow

Abstract

The engineering profession is a great one with a long and distin‐guished history. To keep pace, civil engineering educators must continuously fine tune their efforts to produce better graduates each year—not an easy task given the financial restraints on universities today. Graduates must be produced who can cope with the needs of the future. Great demands will be placed on civil engineers to manage the multitrillion dollar infrastructure needs of our nation. To be prepared, educational systems must concentrate on their core curriculum expanding on them individually rather than diversifying into unknown fields. At the same time course content can be broadened. Subjects such as management, business, and human relations can be added to existing courses within the civil engineering curriculum. It is imperative that professional ethics also be addressed and challenged. The use of practitioners can be of great benefit and should be accepted as a required element of the education of civil engineers. A permanent bond between educators and practitioners must be established.