What do geotechnical and non-geotechnical engineers need to know as new graduates?

G. BISCONTIN; C. HERON; P. KIRKWOOD; J.A. KNAPPETT; A.J. LOBBESTAEL; D.G. MANZANAL; C.J. RUTHERFORD; Y. HASHASH; J.M. PESTANA; E. RATHJE

Cambridge

Workshop; International Workshop on Education of Future Geotechnical Engineers in Response to Emerging Multi-scale Soil-Environment Problems; 2014

University of Cambridge

One of the greatest challenges in revising a curriculum is to decide the relevant material which should be included in each course. Within civil engineering, each thematic group guards closely the pre-eminence of their topics and is very reluctant to agree to a holistic assessment of the curriculum. This resistance to an overall reassessment of the curriculum often results in overlaps and duplications, as well as gaps in knowledge. It also contributes to the students? perception of subjects as a set of silos that do not communicate and reinforces the fragmentation of knowledge into unconnected pieces, seemingly basedon empiricism rather than powerful theory.Instead, the task should start with the assessment of the needs of new graduates entering the industry, balanced with a grounding in basic principles and theory.It is important to recognize that every field will develop dramatically within the working life of these new engineers and it is imperative for them to develop their understanding and mastery of concepts within a sound theoretical framework that will allow them to process and absorb new developments easily. This study presented in this paper focuses on the field of geotechnical engineering. Its goal is to identify the technical knowledge and skills that industry desires for new graduates in civil engineering, for students specializing in geotechnical engineering, as well as other civil engineering disciplines. The survey is to beadministered to a variety of firms, to capture a broad range of practitioners, and academics in the United States and the European Union. The results of the survey will then be used to develop sample curricula that address the needs of industry, while relying on basic principles and theory and providing opportunity to connect with other subjects. A small sub-group of the survey respondents will be invited to comment on the proposed curricula, potentially leading to revisions.