12. Kalani Jones, Engineering Vice President at Tachyon Inc. (San Diego) "We look for people who can lead a team, someone who can get a small team—four to six people—motivated and a person who can quickly learn which people are best at doing what”
13. John Reinert, Engineering Manager at Aeroflex UTMC Microelectronics in Colorado Springs, Colorado "The soft skills are just as important as engineering skills" "At a start-up a small company trying to win contracts, it's important to know how to use these skills very efficiently. Conflict resolution also comes into play during some contract negotiations, although most people think of conflict resolution [as something that happens] mainly within their own offices."
14. Vern R. Johnson, Associate Dean at the University of Arizona's College of Engineering (Tucson) "Many employers choose to hire skills rather than people” "The new skilled/global engineers must keep track of what is happening in the global market to determine gaps in their knowledge, skills and attitudes so they will know where to focus their learning. They must become experts with career development so they can strategically plan their employment and learning activities, and they must learn how to learn so they can fill their learning gaps."
15. Joseph Lillie, area manager at Bellsouth in Lafayette, Lousianna "The key non-technical skills I prefer to see people polish are public speaking, written communications and ethics. The goofball in that bunch is ethics, which I define as doing the right thing. But the key thing is that along with your technical skills, you've got to be prepared for the times when personal skills come into play."
16. CASE STUDY With an MechanicalEngineering degree from Arizona State University, Ahmad started as a production engineer. His education had not completely prepared him for workplace realities. "You come out of school and you think you know things," Ahmad said. "And then you join the real world, and it's completely different.“ Ahmad said. "It was not always about the technical aspect of things, although that was a lot of it." But Ahmad also sought pointers on soft skills, including how to get along with managers, customers and co-workers.
23. The Engineering Graduate Today Firms look for skills and attributes in two broad areas:I) Defining skills- Technical skills- a sound knowledge of the engineering fundamentals within their discipline, built on a solid basis of mathematical know-how. II) Enabling skills- Soft Skills-
38. ENGINEERS OF THE FUTURE They must be able to do more than just perform technical tasks. They will be responsible for creating new ideas and solutions and seeing them through. Not only must the engineer innovate, he or she must be able to help the innovation become a reality.
39. FUTURE ENGINEERING CHALLENGES In 21st century, the societal needs regarding energy resources, transportation, housing needs, packaging materials/recycling, and biomaterials and health will grow rapidly. The challenges we face for a sustainable development of the globe are immense. These challenges can be tackled through engineering profession. So the case for engineering as an enabling profession for sustainable development of the globe. The education of engineers is therefore critical to every nation to ensure the prosperity of their citizens.