On Tuesday night, the Austin Forum discussed the future of engineering education at The University of Texas' AT&T Conference Center. Leaders from academia and industry came together to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for what is being called the next generation engineer. These panelists included:

• John Volkman - Corporate Marketing Fellow, AMD

• Allyson Peerman - Global Vice President for Public Affairs, AMD

• Michael Webber - Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin

• Melissa Lott - dual-degree student in Mechanical Engineering and Public Affairs, UT Austin

Today's engineers are facing a slew of new and unique problems in a rapidly evolving world where problems are increasingly cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary. How can engineering education change and adapt to meet the needs of employers, governments and even the students themselves?  

The general consensus is that education at all levels, K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels needs to encourage both the traditional foundation in technical expertise (your physics and math), but also history, literature, and even foreign languages. Volunteering and leadership activities are also a boon. 

Because today's problems are not strictly technical, having well-rounded engineers with both an understanding and desire to tackle the world's toughest problems with an actual understanding of the world they live in is critical. 

Creating this next generation engineer is a difficult process, though. Academia has traditionally been resistant to change, preferring to remain in siloed institutions across campuses, while industry is struggling with where it should direct its resources. But as shown by tonight's forum, everyone involved from industry to academia are thinking about, and more importantly, taking steps to enable the next generation engineer. 

Advanced Micro Devices has been instrumental in leading this process, either through focus groups with students, faculty and even within its own engineering ranks.

Dr. Michael Webber is a model next generation engineer, holding appointments across three different departments at UT and researching multidisciplinary issues with his research group. 

The Austin Post's own Melissa Lott is one of the prototype next generation engineers, pursuing dual Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Public Affairs at UT Austin. The dual degree program, hosted out of the L.B.J. School of Public Affairs, has provided an opportunity for Melissa to explore not only the technical sides of problems she's interested in, but the social and economic aspects.

As evidenced tonight, there is no shortage of demand from industry, and most importantly, the future engineering students, for multidisciplinary engineering education.