Rethinking Engineering Education

Between 2000 and 2005 MIT pioneered and adopted a new model of engineering education, in brief CDIO, stressing engineering fundamentals within the context of the actual process engineers use. Its objective is to match engineering graduates to the needs of the professional market, which are: a high level of disciplinary knowledge in combination with a sound level of academic and engineering skills. The CDIO Initiative has many followers, especially in the aerospace sector (also industries like Boeing, GE Aviation (formerly GE Aircraft Engines), Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Orbital, Pratt & Whitney Canada). Although we did not construct it intentionally as such, our new 2009 Bachelor Aerospace Engineering proves to be highly compatible with this model. According to CDIO the TU Delft BSc Aerospace Engineering is the best implementation of the CDIO template worldwide at a university. In 2011 our Faculty has joined the CDIO Initiative and finds the educational model and the collaboration with the worldwide CDIO members highly valuable and inspiring. The membership may also be valuable for promotion and support our next accreditation. In the presentation Dave will address the CDIO Initiative, the framework of a CDIO-type curriculum and the compatibility of our bachelor.

D.C. Wisler

25-4-2012 10:45:00