Engineering Trends in Education and Employment

While recent news from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) indicates a 1.2 percent drop in salaries of 2009 college graduates, the news for young engineers is not as bad.

The average starting salary for 2009 engineering graduates increased 4.2 percent. BusinessWeek asks if this will lead to any changes in majors for current underclassmen? Read news post

Τ

Interest in this year’s FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, Lego League was demonstrated this weekend when 1,000 people from Florida attended a registration meeting.

Approximately 300 student teams will program a robot to conduct a series of tasks. Program organizers, including founder Dean Kamen, liken the competition to athletic programs with top engineering schools recruiting the best and brightest. Read article

Β

A recent news article from Texas profiles the ‘brighter outlook’ for engineers amid the ‘improving economy’ and increasing alternative energy sources.

In the article, vice chancellor and dean of Engineering at Texas A&M, Dr. G. Kemble Bennett (FL G ’62) says that engineering graduates at the college are in increasing demand.

The economic changes are also changing the academics as well, “We are seeing a shift in the energy world from traditional to green energies … this shift is spurring academia to offer these new processes and (do the) research,” said Bennett.

Lastly, Bennett is unsure if the increase in engineering undergraduates is enough to meet the future demand,
“numbers are up this year … it still may not be enough to meet the demand due to the new technologies and new process the future promises,” said Bennett.

Π