 | Yale alumnus and Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Fenn signs autographs for Catherine Smith '05 and Elizabeth LaDuc '05 at a Jonathan Edwards College (JE) master's tea. Fenn, shown wearing a JE scarf, participated in Yale Engineering's alumni reunion. |
There is no substitute for the analytical thinking that engineering teaches, according to Larry Bunin, general manager of Handshake Dynamics and a 1991 graduate who credits his Yale engineering degree as one of the keys to his success as an entrepreneur.
Bunin was one of the many speakers and attendees at Yale Engineering's alumni reunion weekend, held
From the symposium on Friday to the open house on Sunday, the weekend was packed with lectures, panels, tours, student debates and informal discussions. Engineering alumni led panels on such topics as biotechnology, diverse engineering careers, technology transfer and paths to entrepreneurial success.
One alumni in attendance was former Yale faculty member and alumnus John B. Fenn, fresh from winning the Nobel Prize in chemistry. During a panel called "Challenges to Engineering Education," Fenn pointed out that the emphasis on mathematics education must begin early in school.
"When I came to Yale, it was likely for a student to get a degree at Yale without any exposure to mathematics or foreign languages," he said. "We have to make mathematics an important part of the curriculum, and it has to start in the primary schools."
The need for a focus on math, science and engineering education was a dominant theme throughout the weekend. "Right now there is no political will to change our dilapidated school systems," said Michael H. Jordan '57, chair of Luminant Worldwide Corporation, former chief executive officer of PepsiCo International and CBS Corporation, and a panel member on "Challenges to Engineering Education."
During the opening sessions on Friday, President Richard C. Levin said, "The future of engineering at Yale is a bright one."
Provost Alison Richard echoed this thought, but pointed out that liberal arts education today must incorporate more science classes. "Science and engineering are integral to this university and we must continue to enhance and enrich our undergraduate teaching at Yale," she said. "The faculty is attracting a growing number of students in science majors, but there is still work to be done."
In order to address this issue, Richard said, Yale has employed a strategy of appointing outstanding leaders and recruiting high-caliber faculty. "Our strategy is succeeding," she said. "We have been quietly and successfully recruiting the stars of the future."
Recruiting more students to the engineering major is an issue that Engineering Dean Paul Fleury is addressing. "There are about 58 graduates in engineering each year, and we have a goal of bringing that number up to 100," said Fleury. "To repeat a famous quote from former Yale Engineering Dean Alan Bromley: 'We really must get more engineering into Yale University students and more students into Yale engineering.'"
Another issue addressed during the weekend was improving the time it takes for ideas to make it from the research labs to the product development stage, and ultimately to the marketplace. These issues were addressed during a panel called "Technology Transfer: Research to Product." Panelist Julia Phillips '81 Ph.D., director of Physical and Chemical Research at Sandia National Laboratories, said that frequently the technology is simply not mature enough to support the idea, and it can take 10 to 15 years to produce a product.
"The universities have to figure out how to get these ideas to the marketplace," said Phillips. "Industry is waiting to work with universities on this. I don't think academia should get involved in intellectual property and the dollars associated with it, but there has to be a way to figure out how to do cross-disciplinary work with national labs."
The focus on a sound education was at the core of many of the discussions
Panelist Bunin, who founded Handshake Dynamics, a small management consulting firm in New York, advises clients on business challenges related to information and technology. He says his Yale education, which combined technical training in engineering with a strong liberal arts base, helped him build business relationships.
"Relationships are everything if you want to have entrepreneurial success," said Bunin.
Sherman Min '92 B.S., '94 M.S., director of software engineering at Instill Corporation, said, "It's been said that engineers can't read or write well, but when Yale students enter private industry, they rise through the ranks and that's a reflection of the education they received at Yale. Because of my Yale education, I could communicate better and write better scientific papers than engineers from other schools."
According to David Mindell '88, the Dibner Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "MIT is spending a lot of resources to make its liberal arts education look like Yale's."
Panelist Eric Fossum '84, consultant to Micron, formerly of Photobit, pointed out that engineering is a
Future Yale students might benefit from an exposure to "basic business education," he suggested. "It would be very interesting if Yale engineering students had to publish a paper and get a patent in order to graduate."
-- By Karen Peart
T H I S
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Engineering alumni ponder the field's future
Oct. 18-20. The reunion was a high point in Yale Engineering's year-long 150th anniversary celebration. Yale-trained scientists and engineers on the cutting edge of their fields gathered to reminisce about their time at the University and to address the pressing issues facing the engineering field and Yale Engineering in the new century.
creative process. "Unlike scientists, we are not discoverers. We're creationists," said Fossum.
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