The trend in academia ...
12/20/2014
News Details
ABC Institute of
Technology or, XYZ University of Science and Technology having a department
called Electrical Engineering and doing science. What is science? “The intellectual and practical activity
encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical
and natural world through observation and experiment.” What is engineering?
“The branch of science and technology
concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures.”
If I am not wrong then academia has pretty much decided that engineering stops
at undergrad. Students receiving college degrees in various branches of
engineering are done with engineering education after their college education.
Because engineering by definition is building stuffs and all the goofy stuffs
being built by those kids or may be their drop out brothers are cool gadgets
and widgets – which once in a while enter the market and maybe share a large
space can be done without having a PhD. Or, another profession can be of a
service engineer or technician. Now, accidentally those (Professors and
Students) who still want to do engineering during their graduate life are
termed as technologists who have no scientific depth. There is an extreme push
that these people leave academia. Because they don’t know what they are doing –
but from my own submission, I know I want to use existing and new knowledge to
build stuffs (applications) to help as many people as possible. I might be
confused or I might be out of my mind, but may I propose that the universities
probably start calling themselves, “ABC
Institute of Science (instead of Technology) or ABC Institute of Science (for all)
and Technology (for undergrads) and XYZ University of Science (for all) and
Technology (for undergrads)?” At least in this way we won’t confuse anyone and be true to ourselves
and everyone?