Any search for “skills for aspiring engineers” usually ends up in the same place: A list of math and coding tasks, teamwork and communication. Those skills are important, but they apply to just about any technical field. A better question is, “What are engineering programs designed to produce?”
ABET, the accrediting body that evaluates engineering programs in the United States, requires graduates to demonstrate a specific set of abilities before they can earn a degree. Those skills fall into three broad categories, and students can start building them before they even set foot on a campus.
Competency 1: Solving problems that don’t have clean answers
Math problems have one correct solution, but engineering problems don’t. ABET requires students to apply engineering design “with consideration of public health, safety and welfare” alongside “global, cultural, social, environmental and economic factors.” In other words: The right answer depends on tradeoffs, not just calculations.
Employers have similar standards. In its most recent hiring survey, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) ranked problem-solving among the top skills companies screen for when hiring new graduates.
How to start now: Work on projects with real constraints, such as budgets, deadlines or limited materials. For example: Building a robot with only parts available on hand teaches problem-solving faster than any worksheet can.
Competency 2: Working with people who don’t think the same way
ABET expects graduates to function on teams that “create a collaborative environment” and to “communicate effectively with a range of audiences.” These are two separate outcomes that, really, are the same skill applied in different directions. Engineers spend much of their career translating (e.g., working through a disagreement with a colleague who sees a problem differently, or explaining a technical decision to a non-technical audience).
The NACE survey cited earlier found employers rank teamwork and communication alongside problem-solving as most-desired qualities in new hires. But they want evidence of this competency, not just a line on a résumé.
How to start now: A group project, part-time job or even participation in a debate club could be venues to demonstrate collaborative skills. The hitch: Students must be able to specifically describe a communication challenge in these environments and how they overcame it.
Competency 3: Treating the unknown as a starting point, not a stopping point
Technology today moves so quickly that a four-year degree can’t — and won’t — cover everything an engineer will encounter in their career. ABET calls for engineering programs to teach students to “acquire and apply new knowledge as needed using appropriate learning strategies.”
At Stevens, this critical competency is built directly into the curriculum. The engineering core (a.k.a., the “Design Spine”) includes a design course every semester. Students constantly practice applying new knowledge to open-ended problems. It’s a model for how a program can teach not only skills but habits that pay off long-term.
How to start now: Pick up a new language, tool or skill independently, and stick with it — even if this training doesn’t lead to proficiency.
The good news? None of these abilities require getting into a specific college or university to start developing. All a student needs is a project, a deadline and a willingness to work on problems that don’t have easy answers.
