A Conversation on
Pairing Training and Career:
A University-based Education Perspective
2015 AASHTO RAC Meeting
Portland, Oregon
Martin Pietrucha, Director
Larson Institute, Penn State
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Summary
• University curricula are changing
– Undergraduate
– Graduate
• Are they changing the “right” way?
• Are they changing quickly enough (and can
they continue to change as needed)?
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Changing University Curricula
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Changing University Curricula
• Undergraduate
– ASCE’s Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century
• Foundational
– Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences
• Technical
– Materials Science, Mechanics, Experiments, Problem
Recognition and Solving, Design, Sustainability,
Contemporary Issues and Historical Perspectives, Risk and
Uncertainty, Project Management, Breadth in Civil
Engineering Areas, Technical Specialization
• Professional
– Communication, Public Policy, Business and Public
Administration, Globalization, Leadership, Teamwork,
Attitudes, Lifelong Learning, Professional and Ethical
Responsibility
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Changing University Curricula
• Undergraduate
– The reality
• Fewer required math, physics, and chemistry courses
• Elimination of Surveying, Basic Circuits, Thermodynamics
• Some
– Sustainability (coming slowly)
– Leadership (strong presence; but not required)
– Globalization (indirectly through study abroad, EWB, BTP)
– Lifelong Learning (through osmosis)
– Professional and Ethical Responsibility (inoculation only)
• None
– Contemporary Issues and Historical Perspectives
– Risk and Uncertainty
– Public Policy
– Business and Public Administration
– Attitudes
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Changing University Curricula
• Undergraduate
– Is the civil engineering degree the right entry level degree for a
transportation professional?
– Is there finally a need for an undergraduate transportation
engineering degree separate from civil engineering (like industrial
broke off from mechanical in the early 1900s or environmental
differentiated itself from civil in the 1960s/70s)?
– Can we do it “off the rack” by moving transportation from civil to
industrial engineering?
– Or do we need to “custom tailor” a new curriculum for transportation
engineering?
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Traditional Civil Engineer
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Construction
Environmental
Geotechnical
Hydrology/Hydraulics
Materials
Structures
Surveying and Mapping
Transportation
Typical Transportation Engineer
• Design (Highway)
• Operations (Highway)
• Planning (Car/Truck/Transit?)
• Other Modes? (Peds? Bikes? Transit?)
• Other Operating Schemes? (ITS? Supply Chain
Management?)
Engineering Knowledge Gaps
• Users
– Needs, Wants, and Desires
– Capabilities and Limitations
• Vehicles
– Capabilities and Limitations
• Operating Environment
– Weather/Surface Conditions
– Lighting
Beyond Tradition
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Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Industrial Engineering
Supply Chain Management
Business Requirements
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Speaking
Writing
Working on a team
Resolving conflicts
Handling the media
Managing resources (e.g. budgets, personnel,
facilities, equipment, etc.)
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 1
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Construction ---> Facilities Management
Environmental
Geotechnical
Hydrology/Hydraulics
Materials
Structures
Surveying and Mapping
Transportation
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 2
Planning, Design, and Operations
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Peds
Bikes
Cars
Trucks
Buses
Rail Transit
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Streets/Highways
Fixed Guideway
Air
Water
Pipelines
Telecommunications
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 3
• Machine design
• Tribology/meteorology
• Command, control, communications, and
intelligence (C3I)
• Lighting
• Operations research
• Human factors/ergonomics
• Supply chain management
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 4
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Speech communications
Technical writing
Human resource management
Media relations
Mediation
Marketing
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 5
• 5th Semester
– Transportation Systems Engineering
– Contemporary Skills for Business Professionals
– Supply Chain Management
– Human Factors Engineering
– Mechanical Systems Design
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 6
• 6th Semester
– Highway Engineering
– Transportation Planning
– Urban Transportation
– Vehicle Road Dynamics
– Automatic Control Systems
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 7
• 7th Semester
– Traffic Operations
– Introduction to Operations Research
– Introduction to Embedded Microcontrollers
– Non-Motorized Transportation
– Introduction to Air, Rail, and Water Transport
Transportation Engineer
of the Future 8
• 8th Semester
– Transportation Design
– Fundamentals of Computer Vision
– Fundamentals of Air Pollution
– Computer Aided Lighting Design and Analysis
– Management and Organization
Changing University Curricula
• Graduate
– ABET accreditation for MS in applied science (engineering) programs
– The reality
• Only 36 (of 544) universities have accredited MS programs
– AFIT – 9 programs
– Clemson – Environmental Engineering and Science
– Colorado State – Environmental Health, Health Physics
– Hunter College – Environmental and Occupational Health
Science
– Idaho State - Health Physics
– USF – Industrial Hygiene
– Purdue – Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences
– Michigan – Environmental Health Sciences/Industrial Hygiene
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Changing University Curricula
• Graduate
– The reality
• Faculty drive what constitutes the degree program
– Credits (primarily for PHD)
– Required Courses
• 3 Types of Transportation Graduate Programs
– Basic/Analytical
– Applied/Empirical
– Hybrid
• How does this curricular structure (and associated graduate
product) match up with industry needs?
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If you really want to blow your mind
• April 30, 2012 New Yorker
– Get Rich U.
• http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/30/get
-rich-u
• July 23, 2015 New York Times
– The Fundamental Way That Universities Are an Illusion
• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/upshot/thefundamental-way-that-universities-are-anillusion.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcoreiphone-share
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