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GUEST COLUMN
Engineering support
By: Andrew Garcia
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Opinion
This response is to defend the College of Engineering against blatant misrepresentation.
The April 21 column, "Liberal arts, conservative budget," starts by comparing the building conditions for the College of Liberal Arts versus the science and engineering colleges. There is no question that there have been significant improvements and construction projects for science and engineering facilities. However, this is because alumni and federal grants requesting that funds donated to the University go directly to specific colleges, departments and construction projects. Engineering and science are the bedrock of this University, and thus, a substantially large number of alumni are willing to donate to the school that seeded their success. Vision 2020 dedicates money, which has not been earmarked by donors for specific projects, for improvements and renovations.
After comparing buildings, the article attacks the curriculum of those two departments.
"Are Aggies being taught to place more value on knowledge or imagination?"
All new technology has come from creativity and by extension of the imagination. If you believe that engineers are not creative, how could such things as the iPhone, the laptop (to Facebook in class) or the artificial heart have been invented? If only those inventors had been blessed with "priceless skills" including "the ability to create, to analyze and to think holistically." I cannot imagine the inventions that could have been produced should those science and engineering inventors have been provided with such "priceless skills." Now you might consider those expectations, but let me point out that every engineering major has a senior design project. Every design class focuses on finding a creative solution to a problem at hand, and using our engineering knowledge to make the solution work. In short engineering and science students are presented with plenty of opportunities to think creatively and turn their imagination into something tangible and beneficial to society.
The April 21 column, "Liberal arts, conservative budget," starts by comparing the building conditions for the College of Liberal Arts versus the science and engineering colleges. There is no question that there have been significant improvements and construction projects for science and engineering facilities. However, this is because alumni and federal grants requesting that funds donated to the University go directly to specific colleges, departments and construction projects. Engineering and science are the bedrock of this University, and thus, a substantially large number of alumni are willing to donate to the school that seeded their success. Vision 2020 dedicates money, which has not been earmarked by donors for specific projects, for improvements and renovations.
After comparing buildings, the article attacks the curriculum of those two departments.
"Are Aggies being taught to place more value on knowledge or imagination?"
All new technology has come from creativity and by extension of the imagination. If you believe that engineers are not creative, how could such things as the iPhone, the laptop (to Facebook in class) or the artificial heart have been invented? If only those inventors had been blessed with "priceless skills" including "the ability to create, to analyze and to think holistically." I cannot imagine the inventions that could have been produced should those science and engineering inventors have been provided with such "priceless skills." Now you might consider those expectations, but let me point out that every engineering major has a senior design project. Every design class focuses on finding a creative solution to a problem at hand, and using our engineering knowledge to make the solution work. In short engineering and science students are presented with plenty of opportunities to think creatively and turn their imagination into something tangible and beneficial to society.
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