What is Engineering & Technology for the 21^st Century?

Engineering & Technology for the 21^st Century: New College Strategic Initiatives

New strategic initiatives within the Fulton College of Engineering and Technology at Brigham Young University are aimed at producing engineers and technologists of character, confidence and competence, men and women of wisdom who will become outstanding leaders throughout the world. In addition to sound technical skills, successful engineers in the 21^st century need skills in innovation, sound judgment, and leadership. The college initiatives seek to add to the maturity, language skills, and cultural understanding possessed by many of its students to develop graduates with a unique, unsurpassed blend of technical excellence, leadership, innovation, high moral and ethical standards, and experience with global engineering involving other peoples and cultures.

These new initiatives bring greater clarity to the role of the College of Engineering and Technology in achieving the educational vision of Brigham Young University as characterized by the statements on the right.

Outcomes of the Five Initiative Areas

In order to acheive these lofty goals, they must be translated into real-world criteria for success. What follows is the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology's translation.

Character Development

Students, faculty, and alumni have the personal characteristics of integrity, responsibility, impartiality, and charity. Students understand how to apply the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ to ethical situations which can arise in a global, professional environment. They faithfully serve society and are engaged in professional and scholarly pursuits that enhance the honor and dignity of their professions.

Leadership

Students have developed personal leadership characteristics, qualities, and skills and are prepared to effectively assume leadership responsibilities.

Innovation

Students understand various processes by which innovation can be enhanced and have had a chance to practice these in a technical environment. Students are ready to guide innovative change within an organization.

Global Awareness

Students appreciate how cultural differences affect how people think, live and work in at least one other culture. Students are able to lead within a global context. Half our students will have had a technically related experience with another country.

Technical Excellence

Students think critically and creatively and are agile problem solvers. They understand fundamental and practical principles appropriate to their discipline and are able to apply the principles to solve complex, open-ended problems. They distinguish genuine technical, environmental, safety, and societal constraints from historical or perceived constraints. They provide exceptional technical input while remaining sensitive to non-technical considerations.

President David O. McKay

"But gaining knowledge is one thing, and applying it, quite another. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge, and true education—the education for which the Church stands—is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and God-like character."

President Spencer W. Kimball

"The University life is essentially an exercise in thinking, preparing, and living… [BYU] must concern itself with not only the dispensing of facts, but with the preparation of its students to take their place in society as thinking, thoughtful, and sensitive individuals who … come here dedicated to love of God, pursuit of truth, and service to mankind."

What is Engineering & Technology for the 21st Century?

Engineering & Technology for the 21st Century: New College Strategic Initiatives