In academe´s grungy groves [engineering education]

Analyzing the shortcomings of the US engineering education system is a growth industry. There have been numerous editorials, commission reports, commentaries, and complaints on the subject. Blame has been placed on every party in sight, including the secondary school system, television, uninvolved parents, high school science programs and teachers, legislators, high equipment cost, obsolete laboratories, textbooks, and curricula. No-one however has taken a careful look at the environment within the university and its effect on the engineering faculty. Here, the author presents some anecdotal reports to start such an examination. He has intentionally limited them to a factual recounting of events as they actually occurred; readers are left to draw their own conclusions without being influenced by his biases.<>