Deep, Broad, Dynamic

At its core, engineering is about one thing: decisions. High-value decision making is a critical skill in engineering. This is especially so given the need for faster decision making, the complexities of global interactions, and the many different value systems that various stakeholders exhibit. The vast majority of the value that engineers create today is based on decisions not from applying analytical techniques to choose from existing options, but from creating options that do not yet exist.

Engineering decision making and makers need to recognize the need for change given the requirement for enhanced decision makers. Engineering cannot effectively exist in the old and tired vacuum of the past - - where it should be deep, it is shallow; where it should be broad, it is narrow; and where it should be dynamic, it is static. Many of the ideas and themes embedded in the "deep, broad, and dynamic" engineering attribute model operating in the global world of "flatter and faster" start with a rather simple idea - - multidisciplinary outreach. The future is about accessing people different from you - - the engineering community interfacing with the worlds of finance, art, law, community organizers, etc. It is the civil engineer knowing how and where to access experts in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science - - with the understanding that the great unsettled problems of civil engineering have solutions that run through many different disciplines. It is also the corollary to the same story - - the civil engineer having enough exposure, visibility, and identity that the computer scientist knows where to find an expert or someone with a shared interest.

The future is deep, broad and dynamic.