The Education of Engineers: the Uneasy Relationship between Engineering, Science and Technology*

The article discusses the ingredients of the effective education and training of professional engineers. It is mainly concerned with the quality of that education, bearing in mind that, within the context of mass higher education, it is essential that engineering as a discipline should be attractive enough to appeal to significant numbers of gifted young people. The nature of engineering education has also to reflect another context, that of global problems, human values and the technologies to cope with these. This will require a new set of learning tools and a new vocabulary to go with them. Central to this paper is, therefore, the epistemology of engineering knowledge, scientific knowledge and technology. The outcome is a better prospect for engineering as a profession and a much wider appreciation of what engineering has to offer to society as a whole.