Theme: Leverage Collective Capability to Innovate the Future

Background: The technical knowledge of tomorrow’s engineer must be supplemented with the skills to develop an ‘adaptive engineering leader’ capable of addressing multiple challenges in an ever-changing world. We must educate ‘global engineers’ –engineers that are globally competent and locally relevant. We must also instill a passion for life-long learning in our students to prepare them for a world in which knowledge is increasing at an accelerating rate. We must also prepare engineers to address some challenging issues, from energy, environmental sustainability, food supply, health care and disease, clean water, to security, among others. Although these challenges will not be solved by engineers alone, engineers must play an important role in their solution.

Description: In order to address the challenge of providing engineering students with a deeper scientific and engineering education in their chosen technical area while also providing them a much broader interdisciplinary and cross cultural education than in the past, we have created the Global Engineering Deans/Rectors Council (GEDC). The GEDC has embraced the responsibility to enhance the effectiveness of leaders of engineering institutions of higher education worldwide through a global network that leverages the collective capabilities and resources for the advancement of engineering education and research. This conference will provide an opportunity for GEDC members to develop a vision and mission for the GEDC, discuss recent approaches to educating ‘the global engineer,’ and engage in a dialog that can catalyze and sustain the partnership among the GEDC members.