| There have been significant changes taking place in the engineering profession as a result of improved technology. Companies are doing business with suppliers and customers all around the world. Companies in this day and age have to be worried about collaborating with people from different cultures, keeping up with technology, complex global supply chains, and competing with companies in countries with a cheap labor force. Globally integrated enterprises are the future for many companies. As a result complex global marketplaces are created. The economy which engineers will work in will be strongly influenced by the global marketplace for engineering services. These changes creates a need for a new type of engineer; a global engineer. Global engineers are essential now and in the future for companies that wish to compete on a global scale. However, there are not very many of these types of engineers available. The lack of engineers with global skill sets not only in the United States, but all around the world, has created a new need in engineering education. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework for adapting traditional engineering and technology curriculums to incorporate more course content that will help prepare engineering students to work in a constantly changing global economy. In order for engineering education to improve worldwide, the curriculum needs to be changed to incorporate more global issues relevant to engineering. |
