(124b) The Next Gen Engineers

This is a pivotal moment in time for the engineering workforce. There are demographic gaps, pressures for more rapid innovation and knowledge transfer and acquisition, complex multi-national companies and global economies, desire for a more diverse workforce, and the need to increase the awareness of the impact of engineers on society. We need to excite, attract, retain, and prepare the next generation of engineers to be innovators, entrepreneurs, professional ambassadors, leaders, and to be resilient and opportunistic. We also need to recognize that the potential pool of next-generation engineers views the world through lenses shaped by their personal experiences and learning styles, and that their motivations, professional interests, and career trajectories might be very different from the past. These brief introductory comments will summarize recurring themes and reactions to discussions with industry leaders, late-, mid-, and early-career engineers, legislators, faculty, and students entering the engineering pipeline.