Developing Engineering Systems Graduate Education in Portugal

• Type: Summary of Presentation in an International Conference
• Date: 2009

Authors

João Claro (Author) FEUP; João M.C. Sousa (Author) Other

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology

CORDIS: Social sciences > Political sciences > Public policy > Technology policy ; Social sciences > Economics > Management studies > Technology management

Other information

Abstract (EN): Much of the function of modern society is provided by complex technology based systems. These systems have critical technological pieces, but also have significant enterprise level interactions and socio-technical interfaces. Engineers need Engineering Systems (ES) skills to be successful at designing and operating these systems. Being a productive engineer and leader in modern society requires a holistic perspective, combining technical competence with social awareness, to address problems that are demanding and do not come in disciplinary packages. Several cornerstones of the economic and social development in the years to come, such as the development of new knowledge-based industries, or the enhancement of infrastructures, call for highly educated leaders in companies and government who understand the technical nature of society¿s most important systems, and are able to model, design and manage them using combined approaches from Engineering, Management and Social Sciences fields. Concerning infrastructures, for example, in an analysis that is most relevant for Portugal, OECD has found in its countries a widening gap between infrastructure needs for the future, and the current ability to meet those needs. Part of a set of urgent recommendations on solutions to bridge that gap is the development of new interdisciplinary approaches to the education of engineering students, to provide a holistic understanding of the interdependences between infrastructures, and the complexity of planning, implementing and operating them in an increasingly challenging economic, social and environmental context. Recently, we have been visiting scholars at the Engineering Systems Division, MIT, within the MIT Portugal Program.During that time, we had the opportunity to be engaged in ES graduate education and research programs. This helped us to develop a grasp of the needs for ES graduate education, the portfolio of programs that may be implemented, and the capabilities required to deliver them. With this framework we have started an assessment of the circumstances for the creation of ES initiatives in Portuguese universities. Thus, we propose that the approaches to provide ES graduate education will be designed from three interrelated elements: teaching, research and outreach. In order to have the best possible quality, it is our belief that graduate education in engineering systems should be implemented by a consortium of the best research groups in Portugal working in the field. This consortium should include research groups or labs from different universities; represent expertise in engineering, management, and social science; demonstrate a commitment to establish engineering systems as a new academic field in Portugal; propose research areas in ES; and develop institutional mechanisms to ensure that the proposal team has sufficient time to devote to ES teaching and student advising. Key concerns that may be present in Portuguese universities, for implementing ES initiatives, are their sustainability, their placement in conventional departmental organizations, and the traditional academic suspicion towards applied, multidisciplinary work. We expect the assessment of the circumstances for the creation of ES initiatives in Portuguese universities to provide a valuable set of guidelines on the building blocks to consider, advocates and resources to mobilize, and obstacles to overcome.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Educational