The Engineer Of The Americas

The concept of Engineer of the Americas was conceived to foster professional mobility within the Hemisphere of the Americas and also to generate a local workforce that stimulates the economic development of each country through the presence of multinational industry. The development of supra-national economic regions with strong internal ties is a reality of the present days and introduces a new vision for human resource development, particularly in the area of engineering. In this paper we discuss the competencies associated with engineers who pursue local development as a professional task, and by doing so contribute to an increase of the overall regional competitiveness. Several stakeholders of the process of creating a new breed of professional engineer are presented, starting with the students and the schools of engineering, followed by the industries, the professional organizations, accreditation bodies and the governments. This paper presents efforts being developed by a set of professionals who comprise a task force to better define the Engineer of the Americas and start a pilot project involving a few schools of engineering and interested industries. Some mechanisms to facilitate the establishment of the Engineer of the Americas are also presented. They are analyzed within the framework of regional accords that facilitate grass root, bottom-up, actions like a pilot project, but also lobby for political declarations, like the Bologna Declaration and others in Europe, where top down measures are discussed based on ministerial decisions. The authors advocate a blend of bottom-up and top-down actions that take into consideration the reality represented by the economic asymmetry within the Hemisphere of the Americas, its very early and feeble stage in the process of a deeper political agreements, and also the present controversial but apparently unavoidable process of job migration. Introduction P ge 10282.1 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2005 © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education The hemisphere of the Americas is a rich, complex melting pot of ethnic and cultural diversity. Over time, regional economic development has been asymmetric, with Latin America and the Caribbean in a stage of developing their industrial strength, and North America in a stage of leader of the world in economy, technology, culture, and sciences. Contrary to several other places in the developing world, Latin America and the Caribbean have already established several nuclei of technical excellence, which may be easily observed by several cultural and technological achievements, which include the existence of leading universities and several very good schools of engineering. These nuclei of modern culture are important seeds to bridge the knowledge divide, and, in particular considering the schools of engineering, these nuclei may play an important and leading role in the process of fostering a high-tech industry led economic and social development. The Hemisphere of the Americas is now being challenged by the need for a more homogeneous economic and social growth. The eradication of poverty and the setting of conditions for social and economic development are timely issues that have been deeply associated to the building of indigenous capacity for self growth. Most of the preconditions for such development are partially defined by the United Nations WEHAB (Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity) objectives, which cannot be reached without engaging engineers in the process of designing, planning and even in the decision making process. Many actions in the WEHAB objectives have been treated only under the necessary, but insufficient, economic and political aspects. Moreover, engineers are crucial in dealing with emergencies, disasters and post-conflict situations. Further development beyond the WEHAB basics cannot be reached, in a moment of accelerated technological changes, without the presence of high tech industries, which could foster a second thrust for development, characterized by a more sophisticated market for products and job opportunities. In the knowledge society that characterizes the technological revolution of the beginning of the third millennium, engineers are essential in bridging the knowledge divide between developing and developed countries, and, inside the social fabric of every nation, the exclusion among those that do command a modern set of information and those that do not. The hemisphere of the Americas has a homogeneous origin, being the result of a European layer of conquerors that initially subdued local indigenous peoples and later drove a massive process of migration of population from all over the world in a complex melting of ethnic and cultural diversity. Even so, and in contrast with the rest of the world, most inhabitants of this continent are native speakers of only three languages – English, Spanish and Portuguese – the last two sharing a common Iberian root. The economic development, nevertheless, has been very much asymmetric, with Latin America and the Caribbean in a stage of developing their industrial strength, and North America in a stage of leader of the world in economy, technology, culture, and sciences. Contrary to several other places in the developing world, Latin America and the Caribbean have already established several nuclei of technical excellence, which may be P ge 10282.2 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2005 © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education easily observed by several cultural and technological achievements, which include the existence of leading universities and several very good schools of engineering. These nuclei of modern culture are important seeds to bridge the knowledge divide, and, in particular considering the schools of engineering, these nuclei may play an important and leading role in the process of fostering a high-tech industry led economic and social development. Technical education is the mechanism to reduce the knowledge divide among nations and the internal social exclusion. In this context, Latin America and the Caribbean show areas where the development processes are connected to the WHEAB objectives and areas where a second stage development driven by hi-tech industry is ripe. In both cases a competent work force of professionals in engineering is needed. The globalization era has been characterized by technological breakthroughs, mostly in the areas of telecommunications and information. Although the globalization process may represent a new moment of opportunities, the related generated wealth was not evenly distributed, bringing to many a negative reaction toward the internationalization of the productive processes and markets. Further economic integration cannot be done without a more extended participation of nations and population. Another moment of large scale globalization will probably follow the establishment of stronger supra-national regions. Nevertheless, in this specific moment, the world has its markets, supply and demand industrial chains mostly organized in three regions: the Pacific Rim, Europe and the United States. Latin America and the Caribbean does not have the internal energy to become a region by itself although several initiatives of regionalization like Mercosul (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile) have shown very positive economic results. Following its cultural roots, economic practices and industrial integration, sooner or later, this region will integrate with the US within the Hemisphere of the Americas. Although ties with Europe will always be of great relevance for North and South America, it must be taken into consideration that the European Union is now in an important moment of integration with Eastern Europe. The schools of engineering of the Hemisphere, in order to become nuclei for regional integration that will lead a virtuous process of development, must be part of a strong movement of partnership among the several stakeholders of this process, here taken as: the students of engineering, the schools of engineering themselves, the industries, professional organizations, accreditation bodies, and the governments. All these partners must engage in a set of concerted set of actions. Engineering of the Americas task force The Engineering of the Americas task Force is comprised of a set of champions of this concept from academic institutions, industry, government and non-governmental organizations, characterized by volunteer work. This group is engaged in facilitating several actions of two natures: a set of bottom-up actions based on pilot projects involving specific stakeholders of this process and a set of top-down political actions involving such organizations as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural P ge 10282.3 Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2005 © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education Organization (UNESCO), the Organization of the American States (OAS), the InterAmerican Developing Bank (IDB), and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) among others. These top down actions may set a political agenda for the governments of the Hemisphere of the Americas and may catalyze the necessary financing to back the grass root activities. The mere use of external aid to developing countries has been tried for several decades during the Twentieth Century. This massive, expensive and also commendable effort, nevertheless, had positive but modest results by not taking into consideration that “people respond to incentives”. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, stated: “Let me challenge all of you to help mobilize global science and technology to tackle the interlocking crises of hunger, disease