Business & Industry
Spawning Innovation And Economic Growth
By Seyed Akhavi
What skillsets will U.S. engineers need to cope with the rapidly changing
world, and how many engineers will there be to replace the baby boomers
who are retiring en masse? These are just some of the many questions
engineering educators at technical colleges ask as they form the curriculum
for future generations of engineers.
Job losses have slowed, but when and how most Americans will go back
to work is still not clear. What is becoming increasingly clear, however,
is that there is a need for skilled engineering technicians and technical
workers who will be able to demonstrate the attributes and skills they
need for careers over the next few decades. Staying ahead of the problem
is on everyone’s mind, particularly the two-year colleges that
will provide the training America needs to fuel a new workforce and
spawn innovation and economic growth.
Engineering technicians are in the forefront of any changes in the workforce
due to innovations and the need for economic growth. At this moment,
we are witnessing a great emphasis on the role of engineers to help
the country to move out of a recession. The American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009, with the promise to save and create more than 3.5 million
jobs, by providing $150 billion investment in new infrastructure (the
largest increase in funding of our nation’s roads, bridges, and
mass transit systems since the creation of national highway system in
the 1950s), will demand civil, environmental, electrical, mechanical,
and chemical engineers at all levels.
Three areas of transportation—energy, water efficiency, and renewable
energy—are the areas that are expected to grow. The initiative
to install new smart meters and to make the nation’s electrical
grid more efficient and reliable needs scores of trained engineers and
technicians.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of engineering
technicians is expected to grow 7% in the next few years and job opportunities
will be best for individuals with an associate’s degree or extensive
job training in engineering technology, particularly in the environmental,
electro-mechanical, civil, aerospace, and industrial specialties.
But there are challenges. For one, educators in the U.S. struggle with
the fact that there is a general lack of interest in engineering. High
school educators need to encourage their students to pursue engineering
degrees and perhaps introduce an introductory engineering course to
inspire them to pursue engineering careers.
Engineering schools are another challenge as they fail to provide enough
exposure to engineering students learning to operate and manage offices
in contrast to the training that law and medical schools teach their
lawyers and doctors who are trained to run their offices—and learn
key skills to market and sell themselves. Many engineers, however, miscalculate
all the expertise they bring to the companies that employ them.
I am a dean at the New York City-based Technical Career Institutes (TCI),
yet I never received direct training in becoming a dean of a college.
You’d be surprised how many deans in educational institutions
are engineers. For me, at least, engineering has been a field that makes
the promise of a better life a reality.
One factor that is key to drive these much needed curriculum changes
is the rise of new technologies that require multidisciplinary skillsets.
There is an increasing need to communicate across disciplines in order
to have effective system-level designs, and the rate of change, globalization,
and other workforce issues are also driving changes.
Whether we are ready or not, the new era in education and employment
opportunities has arrived. The downturn in the financial sector and
the historical disregard for math, science, and technology has now made
two-year technical colleges viable and respected short-term and positive
alternatives to traditional four-year colleges as America realizes we
have an immediate and severe shortage of skilled technology and engineering
workers.
For 100 years, TCI has produced graduates who help meet the nation’s
need a skilled workforce. One of the keys to preparing the next generation
of a multifaceted workforce talent pool is to take a holistic approach
and to empower and train students to work on complex projects. We need
to all work together, from our undergraduate schools up through higher
education to enlighten, motivate, and ultimately recruit America’s
new graduates into leadership roles in America’s hospitals, utility
companies, corporations, and educational institutions.
The future of the technical workforce in the U.S. should be a top priority
for all educational systems in cities across the U.S. Improving the
country’s most critical labor markets in engineering, HVAC, computer
technology, cyber security, railway, environment, and alternative energy
is an important goal not only for colleges such as TCI, but for the
entire United States.
Seyed Akhavi is the Dean of Technology, Technical Careers Institutes.
Founded 100 years ago by Nobel Prize recipient Guglielmo Marconi, TCA
has become a leading center for education and development in the communications
industry and serves more than 4,000 students through programs that focus
on emerging technological fields. For more information, visit www.tcicollege.edu.edu
