Engineering management: past, present, and future

After presenting a historical perspective of engineering, the author moves to what engineers do today, to the thinking retained in engineers´ management from the past, and finally to what needs to be done to introduce students to the realities of management. It is believed that the management problems engineers will meet in the future will be similar in nature to those encountered in the past, in their lack of a simple, precise answer. Hence, it is believed that the solution of those problems will be found in the application of very old management methods. By exposing the next generation of engineering managers to some basic, broad aspects of management, by stating old problems in a possible-future setting, and by forcing them to make management decisions by using management judgment, they are better prepared for situations they may meet in the future