Electronic News: What's wrong with engineering education?

The interviews in this article sum up what's wrong with engineering education today.

I have to add a few points though. While the article tells how professors are not paid properly and that engineering education is expensive, it doesn't tell "the rest of the story." We, the United States, do not have enough engineers because we discourage students from engineering and the sciences in general. The article makes that point, only not strong enough. If we as a society valued engineers, respected them in the work place, stopped poking fun at them (how often to hear "geek" as a put down, or pocket protector as a joke) students would more likely go into engineering.

Plus, society and industry values finance, accounting, law, much more than it values engineering. Witness the salary of an investment banker versus a research scientist. Moreover, managers are paid at a much higher rate than researchers and practioners as well. It's a sorry state.

On the plus side, it's heartening to see the article. Identifying the problem is the first step to a solution. And a solution is sorely needed.