THE FORMATION REQUIRED FOR THE ENGINEER IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Fernando Alcoforado*

Abstract – This article was written with the aim of pointing out the changes required in the formation of the engineer in the 21st century.

Keywords – Proposals for changes in the teaching of Engineering; The training required for the engineer in the 21st century.

1. Introduction

This article was elaborated with the objective of pointing out the changes required in the formation of the engineer in the 21st century. One of the goals of education system is to plan the preparation and recycling of people for the labor market. It is incumbent upon education system planners to identify the role of engineers in the future with intelligent machines to make a broad revolution in engineering education by including the qualification of teachers and the structuring of teaching units to prepare their students for a world of work where engineers will have to deal with intelligent machines. Engineering education programs must be deeply restructured to achieve these goals.

This article presents the methodological assumptions of engineering education in the 21st century. At first, it considers that the classical teaching of engineering has been developed in a single axis – the content. Education from the point of view of classical teaching is seen as the transmission of knowledge. Within the context that has been designed for the next century, it is not justified to limit education to the mere transmission of knowledge, either because the content can be accessed by means other than the teacher’s exposition in the classroom, or because the content has validity limited by the speed with which new knowledge is generated. It is concluded that new axes should be added to the pedagogical approach. In addition to “what to teach?” (Content) question, should we emphasize “how to teach?” (Methodology), and “where to teach?” (Learning space).

2. The necessary changes in Engineering teaching

In the question of content it is necessary to recognize that it is not possible to teach everything. So teaching students to learn new subjects on their own seems to be more reasonable than simply trying to put knowledge into their minds. Developing communication skills, oral and written expression, group work, foreign language learning, seems to be a growing trend in structuring new engineering curricula. With regard to methodology, on the other hand, it is necessary to break with the idea of ​​teaching basic science before the technical disciplines. Such an attitude has already proved ineffective, since mathematical and physical concepts, for example, are approached, as a rule, without connection with the practice of engineering. The idea is to focus content by relating it to real-world problems and develop theoretical knowledge from a practical problem in which students can learn by actively doing and participating in the process.

The traditional school without realizing created an aberration. It has separated the teaching into theory and practice, while creating classrooms for theory and laboratories, for practice. It is not surprising that the students have so much difficulty to relate them, since if in their eyes everything happens without time-space relation. It is necessary to transform the classrooms into a Renaissance workshop, that is, a space of coexistence, where the doing and the reflection about doing can happen at the same time. The learning space must be an environment where practice and theory can be developed in parallel, complementary, in the form of a praxis. In such an environment, group work, the development of interpersonal skills can happen and interdisciplinarity ceases to be theoretical discourse to be concrete reality. The proposal put forward here is to transform the classroom into a workshop, equipped with resources so that students can investigate and build their own understanding. The role of the teacher in this context is that of a guide of the process of construction of knowledge.

3. Conclusions on the formation required for the engineer in the 21st century

The proposals for changes in engineering teaching in Brazil presented in the articles O perfil desejável do engenheiro para o século XXI (The desirable engineer profile for the twenty-first century) by Jarbas Milititsky, O engenheiro dos novos tempos e as novas pautas educacionais (The engineer of the new times and the new educational guidelines) by Maria Candida Moraes, O engenheiro do século XXI: o profissional de uma nova renascença? (The engineer of the XXI century: the professional of a new renaissance?) by Marcos Banheti Rabello Vallim and O ensino de Engenharia no Brasil do século 21 (Engineering teaching in Brazil of the 21st century) by José Sérgio dos Santos were analyzed.

From these proposals, it is verified that the engineer’s profile for the 21st Century should have the following characteristics: 1) a good foundation of engineering science fundamentals; 2) understanding of processes and projects; 3) understanding of the social, economic, political and environmental context in which engineering is practiced; 4) communication capacity; 5) ability to think creatively and critically, independently and cooperatively; 6) flexibility, ability and self-confidence to adapt to large and rapid changes; 7) curiosity and desire to learn for life; and, 8) ability to work as a team. The engineers of the 21st century should have: 1) capacity for synthesis; formulating, analyzing and solving problems, understanding that the formulation itself is part of the solution to the problem; 2) understanding complex systems and uncertainties; 3) sensitivity in interpersonal relations and mastery of languages, not to mention respect for cultural differences, within the country and among other countries; and, 3) initiative, capacity to manage, make decisions, master smart technologies and create opportunities.

The formation of the engineer who will live and work in the 21st Century must pay attention to costs, deadlines, quality, safety, social and environmental repercussions of projects. This means that the engineer can no longer consider purely technical solutions. The student has to be surrounded by techniques that develop his ability to communicate and work in teams, from participation in groups to solve problems. All this through an interaction with companies, regular and planned. And, of course, with a very explicit awareness of the need for continuing education. The engineer of the 21st Century will be in the process of permanent formation throughout his life. And for this, it is necessary that its learning be active, joining theory and practice, with intensive use of the laboratories and integration to the research activities, especially those made based on real cases of the industry.

The role of the University – and that of the School of Engineering – can only be to build the capacity for continuous and permanent learning of its graduates. In addition to taking on the fantastic responsibility of meeting the demand for retraining of a contingent of professionals who are in the market and need a systematic and constant updating. Engineering Schools should strengthen relationships with design and construction companies as well as industries to assist in the training of 21st century engineers. The university has to have good and motivated teachers, good facilities and the conditions to offer a proper education. It must be able to foster the learning and continuous innovation of its faculty and its technicians, be they support or administrative.

In January 1998, the Polytechnic School of Engineering of USP (POLI / USP) commissioned a survey of companies in the state of São Paulo, financed by the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), in order to know the ideal professional profile of a new engineer that would be required by the labor market of the year 2002. The research sample consisted of 17,518 commercial establishments in the state of São Paulo, and the survey was carried out from December 1997 to January 1998. In the conclusions of the aforementioned report requested by POLI / USP, it was observed that, out of a set of 72 characteristics, the 10 attributes most valued by the labor market were highlighted as follows:

First – individual committed to quality in what makes

First – the ability to work in team

Second – the ability to live with changes

3rd – clear vision of the consumer role

3rd – initiative for decision-making

3rd – user of basic computer tools

4th – domain of English

5th – faithful to the organization in which you work

6th – values professional ethics

6th – professional ambition / will to grow

7th – qualified for planning

7th – view of market needs

8th – values dignity / has personal honor

9th – overview of the profession

9th – the ability to save resources

10th – concerned about safety at work

10th – the ability to drive men

Some attributes obtained the same score and were classified according to the data presented above.

Of the proposals on the profile of the engineer in the twenty-first century mentioned above is the recommendation that it is necessary to rethink the curriculum of the Engineering course, transform it into something with a little more sense and a greater commitment to human needs. A curriculum where everything is related, recursively interconnected, in process of transformation.

Note: This text served as a basis for suggestions presented by author of this article at the public hearing held at the Engineering Club in Rio de Janeiro on November 21, 2018 on the National Curricular Guidelines of the Engineering degree course in Brazil.

REFERENCES

ALCOFORADO, Fernando. A revolução necessária ao sistema de educação do Brasil. Available on the website <https://www.academia.edu/30431049/A_REVOLU%C3%87%C3%83O_NECESS%C3%81RIA_AO_SISTEMA_DE_EDUCA%C3%87%C3%83O_DO_BRASIL>, 2016.

MILITITSKY, Jarbas. O perfil desejável do engenheiro para o século XXI, Disponível no website <https://www.lume.ufrgs.br/bitstream/handle/10183/143092/000318634.pdf?sequence=1>, 1999.

MORAES, Maria Candida O engenheiro dos novos tempos e as novas pautas educacionais. Available on the website <http://www.ub.edu/sentipensar/pdf/candida/ingeniero_novos_tempos.pdf>, 2015.

SANTOS, José Sérgio dos. O ensino de Engenharia no Brasil do século 21. Available on the website <http://www.tqs.com.br/tqs-news/consulta/58-artigos/1057-o-ensino-de-engenharia-no-brasil-do-seculo-21>, 2012.

VALLIM, Marcos Banheti Rabello. O engenheiro do século XXI: o profissional de uma nova renascença? Available on the website <http://www.abenge.org.br/cobenge/arquivos/20/st/t/t153.pdf>.

* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic  planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),  Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).