Engineering Education

You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help them find it within themselves.
-Galileo Galilei
Italian astronomer & physicist (1564 - 1642)
(quotation modified for gender inclusivity)---> from my Current Thermodynamics Syllabus

In my opinion, engineering education today, especially at CSM, military academies, and other reputable institutes, requires that the student be traditional in nature, willing or unable to have any sort of life outside of school, little to no experience in the “real world,” living on campus, and supported by a large fund. I have yet to meet a student with this profile, which leads me to believe that the traditional engineering student is a dying breed.
As a student, this concerns me, and wonder what the future of engineering will be if this is what the best students are subjected to. From various professors at the conference and at CSM, I have heard that freshman are considered prime targets for revolutionary teaching techniques because they have not yet been “broken” by the system. To me, this is highly unsettling.
(Note: I am currently a junior at CSM in Civil Engineering)

"You can observe a lot just by watching." -Yogi Berra

As Jon Stewart enriches the evening air, and Robbin Williams is running for President on film, something like 20,000 people stuck in poweless airports in Hawaii. As a contrast from mingling in Rio de Janerio with all the big-wigs in Engineering Education I have a quiet evening filled with my Mac, Physics II Capa and some Statics. The challenge will be keeping the focus on working towards acheiving my goals while keeping my head above the rising tide of Mines initiation in civil engineering.