ENGLISH V UNIT 4 THE FORMATION OF AN ENGINEER UNIT IV - MODULE II - WRITTEN COMUNICATION / Reading ESSAY ON THE FORMATION OF AN ENGINEER Document

written in Spanish by chemical engineer GEMAY BONILLA ARBOLEDA and translated into English by Olga Gil Dominguez,

Copyrights of this article have been granted to Universidad de Antioquia to be used in English V in the English for Engineers program

There are many specialists in engineering topics who have conducted studies, research, retrospectives and projections about the past, present, and future formation of an engineer before the permanent evolution of tools developed by basic sciences and engineering for achieving more efficiency, better performance, lower costs, more satisfaction, and wellbeing. With the purpose of contextualizing this topic, lets start with the meaning of the word engineering. According to Law 842, 2003 (law which governs engineering performance in Colombia): Engineering should be understood as every application of physical, chemical, and mathematical sciences, industrial technique, and in general, application of human ingenuity to the use and invention on the matter. MIT -one of the most important academic institutions in USA- defines engineering as follows: creative profession for the development and application of scientific and technological knowledge for meeting societys needs. Engineering can also be contextualized with the development possibilities of a society, as established by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization): Economic development of any country will finally depend on the human effort. Human beings trained to discover and exploit natural resources, to manage capital, to develop technology, to produce goods and distribute them among the population so the entire country can benefit from them, are required. Scientific and technical personnel has contributed in a very meaningful way to these social development works.

Qualified formation for engineers cannot be oriented based on the erudition (learning, knowledge) but in the development of abilities. Studies with university students conducted by UNESCO points out that 50% of knowledge learned by memory is forgotten in one year, and 80% in two years. In the World Conference on Higher Education (1998) held at UNESCO headquarters, it was expressed that it is necessary to promote both permanent learning and construction of appropriate abilities to contribute to the cultural, social, and economic development of a society. Abilities may be defined as a system of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values for a continuous improvement through study and practice. Personal abilities (personal formation objectives) are those personality traits such as leadership, teamwork, effective communication, creativity, and global and systematic vision developed since childhood and then motivated by both universities and companies, and frequently defined by them as institutional competences. Professional competences are related to the work fields of each profession and are expressed in professional formation objectives of the programs of studies: professional model, curricular disciplines, and subjects. What should be planned, analyzed, designed, optimized, constructed, evaluated, and recycled is defined in each area; that is, professional competences of an engineer according to his/her specialty. Some of these competences are referred to in ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Website: www.abet.org ). Initially, it could be stated that engineering is a profession, and education at university institutions is a way to educate engineers. Engineers use all possible resources in their profession, become acquainted with them and improve their aptitudes and relations for producing and managing socio-technical systems, which provide goods and services for satisfying the needs of humanity, thus improving standards of living and protecting humanitys sustainable development on ethical and economic bases. Consequently, engineering creates, together with art, science, and technology, apply scientific, technological, mathematical, and experimental knowledge as well as information technology methodologies from incomplete and uncertain data.

In general terms, it could be stated that studies related to this topic agree that the following are the characteristics an engineer should have: Creativity and innovating spirit Competitiveness A continuous habit for self-learning Communication skills Critical spirit Multi- and inter-disciplinary formation Flexibility in his/her professional performance Curiosity

All studies agree with an ethical formation which should be reflected on: respect for values, for ethical codes, and for the environment. The performance of professionals is characterized by the need for adjusting to an increasingly competitive and demanding society. The increasing growth of information and communication technologies results in a daily generation of a big amount of information, which could probably exceed the processing capacity of a professional in his/her specialty. Internet and satellites have completely changed information production and circulation process which, at the same time, demand appropriate strategies for selecting, classifying, and processing in such a way that they can be translated into knowledge for people to develop their capacities in all activities of individual and collective growth. Information world is controlled by speed, interconnection, and intangibleness. All this information is linked to Globalization. The epoch in which industries were exclusively devoted to produce goods and services to satisfy a countrys needs is about to disappear. Currently, vertical production among countries is prevailing, and this requires qualified personnel in each one of the links of the production chain: Brazil and Canada are considered as the leading wood producers; Mexico and USA are becoming the best paper producers; France and Germany are leading ink and pigment production; Spain and Argentina are leading printing and bookbinding. This is an example not only of the need for an international integration of production chains which import and export worldwide, but also of the need for a development of specialties in each country and an associated formation of the personnel. Dependency among countries is increasingly strong and there is a

need for developing projects in which several countries can participate and make contributions of their strengths. Likewise, people have started to feel the effects of an accelerated industrial development reflected on the Environment Deterioration. This problem could be solved through two different aspects; on the one hand, education for a change of values and attitudes in order to reach more respect for each one of the resources, with rational and responsible use and showing the impact our actions have on our environment; on the second hand, formation of engineers who promote development and research of products, processes, services, and goods with appropriate technologies to reduce environmental pollution and current contamination. Currently, we are subject to knowledge as an axis of society which has led to provide a high value in the development of individuals and their societies; knowledge is before doing as a development agent, thus appearing Knowledge Strategic Value. It is the knowledge applied to production, distribution, and management stages which is bringing a revolution to economy, commerce, politics, culture conditions, way of living, consumptions of goods, and services. This new cycle has been named Society of Knowledge or Information, bearing in mind that it is directing world economy. There are other related aspects such as virtualization as a part of communication strategies and overcrowding of knowledge and information. Knowledge should be the base of education of any professional, specially engineers, and it should be controlled by an economy directed by globalized knowledge, assertive communication as a direction strategy, learning as a source of a sustained and competitive attribute, and shared and disclosed knowledge against the idea of being maintained without being disclosed. Telecommunications, information technology, Internet, and e-commerce are the main drivers of the economic growth in this century, such as steam machines were at the beginning of industrial revolution. Before this situation, higher education needs a renewed vision in its planning, which should be consistent with the characteristics of the society of knowledge or information. To plan again basic concepts of strategic planning of universities and to explore competences which higher education institutions need to provide their students with tools to face the challenges of the XXI century become a priority. Holland, Bigelow, Mardesn, Grootings, Ducci have suggested that education should be framed in knowledge, skills, and values, regarded as competences to be developed and strengthened in individuals. All this requires that adjustments are made around programs of study, directives, administrative staff, academic staff, and students.

Formation of engineers is a process which begins in the first terms in the university; however, this process should be provided by some characteristics a student who wants to be admitted in an engineering program should have: Skill to think with imagination and vision Skill to understand scientific principles and to apply analytical methods to the study of natural phenomena Skill to conceive, organize, and conduct appropriate experimental research Skill to synthesize and design Disposition to work in fields or factories, as applicable. Disposition to always study Nevertheless, an engineer should have a formation which allows him/her to develop abilities. One of the most powerful tools of an engineer is mathematics. If engineers have a good knowledge of mathematics, they could advance quickly in mechanics and physics. Learning physics principles provides tools to understand the development and behavior of magnetic materials, discharge of gases, semiconductors, thermodynamic systems, and materials structure. Decree 0792, May 8th, 2001 establishes academic standards for engineering undergraduate academic programs. In article 4, besides basic sciences, it establishes that: a program of studies in engineering should have theoretical and methodological bases of engineering based on the knowledge of natural sciences, mathematics, conceptualization, design, experimentation, and practice of sciences of each field, looking for the optimization of resources, for the growth, for sustainable development, and for the wellbeing of humanity. The basic plan of the program of studies is defined as follows; Area of basic sciences integrated by courses in natural sciences and mathematics Area of engineering basic sciences which includes courses studying characteristics and applications of basic sciences in which design of systems and mechanisms for problem solving are based Applied engineering area or a group of knowledge of the engineering specific field. Social humanistic area with economic, administrative, and humanistic components. Engineering applications.

In the proposal for a new program of studies, structure and organization of contents, pedagogical strategies, and possible learning environments to obtain results should be expressed. Distribution is established based on the amount of hours on site (see table 1), as shown in an engineering independent general formation plan. All areas should be taken into consideration but the depth of each one depends on each engineering program. Table 1. Distribution of areas in engineering formation programs Areas Basic Sciences Engineering Basic Sciences Engineering Applications Economic-administrative Area Socio-humanistic Area Minimum percentage based on hours on site 20% 20% 25% 5% 10%

The purpose of an engineering program is to educate engineers with competence in tackling typical problems of their profession, with creative capacity to produce innovations, capacity for analysis and approach of problems, Management of scientific thinking and research methodologies, global vision of knowledge which allows them relate different areas to solve problems, and motivation for permanent learning and updating, capacity to integrate, to form and to conduct work groups, capacity for decision making, to preserve and to have a sustainable use of environmental resources, and ethical attitude in their profession. It is expected that engineers have an integral formation. The university should provide them with competences for an internal growth with values and knowledge so they can be morally autonomous individuals with ethics, with capacity for judging and evaluating their role in each one of their professional fields.

Based on the diagnosis of the world situation, UNESCO has promoted three mega tendencies from the last decade of the XX century: To learn how to apprehend (knowledge) To learn how to do (Skills) To learn to be (attitudes, values, and qualities ) To these three megatendencies, a fourth one is added as a reply to globalization generalizing processes: To learn how to live with other people (human relations) provided the need to work in groups, multiculturalism with multinational consortia; consequently to live with other people becomes necessary to be included in programs of study. Besides formation in undergraduate studies, graduate formation should be strengthened, especially in research, which can be classified in different levels as follows: Level 1. Technical scientific research about new calculation procedures of engineering systems; discoveries and analysis of new facts which lead to technological developments; creation of innovations in the production and in industrial and technological inventions; engineering innovations resulting from the last progress in basic sciences. Level 2. Creation of new projects in engineering works through a clear understanding and an efficient training for the use of basic sciences; aptitude to look for and use the most appropriate information - not for memorizing it to face a new technical problem; imagination to face daily engineering problems with innovating spirit.

Level 3. Direction and execution of works projected by level- 2 engineers or maintenance engineers in established industries; carrying out projects of works in traditional industries which use established principles and techniques. Level 4. To carry out tests, measures, controls, and analysis works. Level 1 corresponds to PhD programs and there will be more creative engineers if there were more PhDs in the schools, if there were more research in the main fields of engineering related to national development and if students were guided to have more talent, vocation to study, toward research in technology and engineers sciences. Level 2 which corresponds to Master programs is not sufficient in many engineering schools. Besides, the other levels demand maintenance and updating; consequently although graduate programs at master and PhD levels should be created, diploma programs and courses of good quality should be offered as well as modern and demanding specialization programs It is worth mentioning now that engineers after graduating from their undergraduate programs should enroll in continuing education programs. They should attend events, take courses for long or short periods of time, diploma programs which are not graduate programs and do not demand attendance or evaluations. They can also register in specialization programs which last two or three terms and their objective is to update in a specific topic of the profession and eventually carry out a monograph. It is then required that students are formed in generic abilities because they provide a platform to learn how to apprehend, to think and create. It is also important to state that higher education institutions select abilities which correspond to education and to the labor world as well. The transcendence of these replies is based on the fact that students knowledge at the moment could be obsolete in a future while generic abilities do not become obsolete, they develop and improve. For this reason, education based on competences is a new education orientation which tries to provide an answer to knowledge society. Competences constitute the axis of new education models and are focused on performance.

After reading this essay, answer the following questions. 1. According to the essay, how engineering shouldnt be understood in Colombia? a. As every application of physical science. b. As every application of chemical science. c. As every application of mathematics. d. As every application of languages. 2. According to the MIT, which definition of the word engineering best suits the opinion of this institution? a. Profession for meeting societys needs. b. Creative profession for developing a new society. c. Creative profession for the development and application of scientific and technological knowledge for meeting societys needs. d. None of these. 3. According to the passage, what can be inferred about memory? a. Humans have very bad memory. b. We are not pretty good at remembering things. c. Constant learning should be encouraged. d. Students forget everything they are taught at school. 4. According to the reading, what can be inferred from abilities and professional competences? a. They are totally different. b. They are both needed to be an engineer. c. It is possible to posses one without the other one. d. They have nothing to do with each other. 5. According to the passage, why is it said that companies devoted to produce goods and services are coming to an end? a. Because of globalization. b. Because people dont like goods anymore. c. Because these companies arent competitive. d. Because there are too many people to be satisfied.

6. According to the reading, it can be noticed that one of the negative aspects is. a. The environmental damage. b. Lack of opportunities for young people. c. Constant layoffs. d. A lot of unprepared people. 7. What kind of skill is not mentioned in the skills needed for an engineer? a. Skills to think with imagination and vision. b. Skills to synthesize and design. c. Skills to deal with others. d. Skills to conceive, organize, and conduct appropriate experimental. 8. According to the passage, what kind of studies is not mentioned? a. Area of basic sciences integrated by courses in natural sciences and mathematics. b. Applied engineering area or group of knowledge of a specific field of engineering. c. Socio- humanistic area, which includes economic, administrative, and humanistic components. d. Applied engineering for general concepts. 9. According to the new proposals, it can be noticed that. a. more academic studies are needed. b. more competences for internal growth with values and knowledge are needed. c. more demand from the teachers is needed. d. more professional fields are needed. 10. According to the reading, it finally can be inferred that: a. a grade system increasing is advised. b. students need more subjects to choose. c. more education on general abilities is necessary. d. more knowledge to become obsolete is not necessary.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION Writing topic sentences for comparison paragraphs Topic sentences for comparison paragraphs should have the items being compared in the sentence as well as the characteristic or characteristics to be compared. The topic sentences should be followed by sentences supporting the characteristics being compared. Some connectors can be used, either time connectors, addition connectors, and so on, depending on the situation. Example: From the following topic sentences, choose one which is appropriate for the paragraph below. Topic sentences. a. El Colombiano newspaper and El Tiempo newspaper are similar newspapers. b. El Colombiano newspaper and El Tiempo newspaper have similar days of publication. C. El Colombano and El Tiempo newspaper have the same ideological tendency. Paragraph: --------------------------------------- First both newspapers have the same sections: editorial, economic section, social section, advertising section, and classified ads. They both have sections in English and Spanish. In the economic section, we can find the price of the dollar, the international price of coffee, and the price of the most important currencies in the world. On Sundays, they both have a section devoted to book and cultural events The appropriate topic sentence for the above paragraph should be: El Colombiano newspaper and El Tiempo newspaper are similar newspapers.

Exercise 1. From the following topic sentences, choose one for the paragraph below. Topic sentences. a) Bogota and Medellin are very different cities. b) Bogot and Medellin are very similar in many ways. c) Bogota is larger than Medellin. Paragraph: --------------------------------------------.Bogota is located on a praire and there are not mountains around. Medellin is located on a valley and surrounded by many mountains. Due to the place they are located Bogota has a cold weather whereas Medellin has a warm weather. In Bogota people wear elegant clothes all the time; In Medellin people wear casual clothes on Fridays. Exercise 2. From the following topic sentences, choose one for the paragraph below. Topic sentences. a) I prefer England to USA to travel b)Traveling in USA is a wonderful experience c) In England you can visit more cities than in the USA. Paragraph: --------------------------------------------. It is easier to get a vista to travel to England than to travel to the USA. If you get a student visa for London, you can register at the police station as soon as you arrive, and you will get permission to travel 20 hours a week. If you get a student vista for the United Stats, you are not legally allowed to work , if you are found working, you can be deported.

Exercise 3. From the following topic sentences, choose one for the paragraph below. Topic sentences. a)There are very good universities abroad. b) I prefer public universities rather than private universities to study in Colombia. c) It I better to study abroad rather than studying in the country. Paragraph: --------------------------------------------. They are cheaper than private universities in which the prices are sometimes so high that it is impossible to afford even a term. If it is true that sometimes I cannot complete my program of studies in the time scheduled for the program, I can study by myself and take exams to advance in my program of studies. The parties are also cheap and everybody collect money to have fun. Students in general are very friendly and nobody is taking about having money because most of them come from the same socio economic strata. I cannot say that strikes do not affect academic life, but this is part of our university life. Writing: Students should write an essay comparing different curricula in the area of engineering in different universities.