A Survey Of The American Architectural Engineering Curriculum

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive survey of all ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited architectural engineering programs. The analysis is based on data collected from a detailed study of the curricula of these programs. Five major groups of courses are discussed: mathematics and science, general education, architecture, other, and engineering coursework. The analysis reveals what is, or is not, being covered in architectural engineering and the implications for future professional practice. The paper discusses the two approaches to teaching architectural engineering (from the architecture schools and from engineering schools), how well curricula satisfy ABET accreditation criteria, and what the current distribution of coursework indicates is the priority of architectural engineering education. Like many other disciplines, it is apparent that the current architectural engineering curriculum is highly specialized when it comes to technical subjects, but rather unfocused regarding liberal arts and other important non-technical skills.