Dean's message:
A global peace corps of engineers

The People’s Republic of China produces 450,000 engineers annually—more than four times as many as the U.S.—and the difference is growing every year. Each newly minted Chinese engineer commands an average annual salary in China of less than $10,000 (U.S.), about one-fifth the starting salary of the average Berkeley Engineering graduate. Russia and India are also producing large numbers of engineers willing to work for much lower salaries than their American counterparts.

What can we do to continue to distinguish the graduates of Berkeley Engineering and ensure that they retain their high value in a growing global marketplace? It is indisputable that the U.S. leads the world in specialized skills, technology, and salaries. But our undergraduates tend to be woefully behind in worldly wisdom, international travel experience, foreign language abilities, and basic awareness of how other peoples live and think.

To maintain our leadership role, we must correct this imbalance. Fundamental studies in the sciences and mathematics will always form the core of our engineering programs, but our research universities must also begin to think globally by incorporating examples of diverse, real-life experience into the curriculum. My own belief is that this is best done outside of student life, away from campus and home, in some distinctly different place on the planet.

At Berkeley, we are creating a task force to consider such an experience as part of the curriculum—perhaps as part of a fifth year of study—through a global engineering technology ‘peace corps.’ I envision young engineers working in communities all over the world, partnering with practicing engineers, faculty and students from other disciplines, other universities, and perhaps other countries, and working within local infrastructures and governments to identify problems and to help find solutions.

As someone who left his native Australia to study at Berkeley, then traveled and lived for three months in a small village in India, I know firsthand that there is no comparable experience for a young, passionate student to learn that he or she has a great deal to offer, as well as a great deal to learn. I believe that the leaders of tomorrow will be those who truly involve themselves in our world today. We must provide an effective opportunity for our students to experience the realities of global engineering as a part of their Berkeley Engineering education. I welcome your thoughts and ideas at dean.forefront@coe.berkeley.edu.

A. Richard Newton
Dean, College of Engineering
Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering

FOREFRONT takes you into the labs, classrooms, and lives of professors, students, and alumni for an intimate look at the innovative research, teaching, and campus life that define the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

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