Dear Friends and Students
Today I had an opportunity
to listen to the Message of Ford CEO on Alvin Foo's Twitter Handle (twitter.com/alvinfoo/status/1680019471254315008).
I recommend you should
listen to this 1.5-minute perspective. Though he is talking about Ford Vehicle
Automation Scenario, I am seeing this from an Engineering Education Impact
perspective.
Foo Tweet says, “Ford CEO
explains why legacy car manufacturers cannot compete with Tesla in software (or
make good software). This is the same reason why many of them will eventually
go out of business, the disruption is real and they are simply unable to
transform fast enough vs Tesla and the new Chinese EV makers.”.
Ford CEO says, their car
module consists of 150+ modules developed by tens of software companies. As it
is legacy code, these car companies have to take permission from these vendors
to modify and make it an interoperable module. However, Tesla or any other EV
vehicle is developing their own brand-new software for the Car and gaining a
competitive advantage!
If we decode this problem
deep into various other domains and corresponding education changes, it is
going to be an eye-opener. A day is going to be near that what we teach in the
classroom (e.g., Internal Combustion Engines) is no more relevant! For e.g., as
you are all aware, Norway is the trailblazer in ending the reign of ICE
vehicles, with only zero-emission new vehicles either battery electric or
hydrogen to be sold from 2025. I am sure Norway's Mechanical Engineering
departments might have to phase out their syllabus and change their curriculum
completely. Eventually, the same case with all Mechanical Engineering
departments across the world.
If 3D printing becomes
the norm, that means that there will be even more demand for chemical
engineering, however, there would be new materials and fabrication techniques
being developed. Again, there would be an impact on the Curriculum. It becomes
software/automation-enabled Chemical Engineering.
Engineering Automation
companies like Siemens, ABB, Emerson, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric,
Honeywell, Mitsubishi, Yokogawa Electric, Omron Automation, Danaher Industrial
Ltd, etc approach towards automation is mind-blowing. Their JDs are already
demanding 50% domain expertise, and 50% software expertise to automate their
engineering processes.
Dear Friends, from In
Engineering Software Perspective, control
engineering to automation to computer science are slowly
merging (Industry 4.0), resulting in Trans-Disciplinary Engineering Education!
The boom for software continues however in my
view, Engineering Education is not going to be based on Departments (CSE, ECE,
EEE, CHEM, MECH, CIVIL) in the future! It would be called as Energy, Automobile, Control & Safety Systems, Design
& Operations Software, Industrial Robots,
Industrial Automation and Test and Measurement
Solutions, Life science, environmental, etc. Each of these Domains needs
to teach specific domain knowledge, electrical, electronics, software specific
to that process, and automation process as part of the curriculum.
I am sure, It demands the overhaul of the
entire process change right from the policy definition, regulatory approvals,
restructuring of the department, faculty recruitment/re-training of the
existing, infrastructure in the institutions (industry and institutions
together operate the course), Labs delivery (more labs, less theory, more
internships, more field works), examination grading (no traditional assessment,
more assignment driven), recruitment (internships based), entrance examinations
(domain interest-based general awareness questions and aptitude), etc
If these predictions are right, I am sure this
change would take place in less than 5 years!
As Ford's CEO mentioned for Vehicles,
similarly the traditional mindset driven colleges extinct. Progressive colleges
would survive.
My Past Personal Experience
Back in 2010, I quit Wipro to start
campaigning for the Centre for Innovation in Schools and Colleges. People
laughed at me for the decision and concept in Schools and Engineering
Colleges/Universities. Back in 2010, hardly there were any colleges with the
Centre for Innovation.
I sent proposals to all stakeholders like
right from the President of India, PMO, every CM, Secretaries, all colleges and
schools Principals, DEOs, etc. That time the response was weak. Today as we are
talking on July 2023, we have a Centre for Innovation and Incubation in every
University/Institution, we have IIC clubs in every college, and Atal Tinkering
Labs in the majority of the schools. With the same time operated conviction, I
am confident that Departments would change to Domains in the future Colleges!
Time to Think!
Ravi Saripalle
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