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Vol.
2, No. 1, Winter 2006
 Welcome
to the third edition of ESD Reports, the online
newsletter of MIT’s Engineering Systems Division.
As many
of you know, this will be the last edition of ESD Reports
that is published under my watch, as I am moving on to become
MIT’s dean for undergraduate education. Details can
be found in articles published in MIT’s Tech
Talk and The
Tech. Institute Professor Joel
Moses, former Provost, Dean of Engineering, and
Head of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Department, has been named ESD's Acting Director. Details
of a search for a new Director of ESD will be announced.
I wish to thank
all of you for your support in helping to evolve and support
the emerging field of Engineering Systems and I look forward
to working with you in the future.
The
theme of this edition of ESD Reports is “Big
D” Diversity, inspired by the troubling fact that
while the number of U.S. engineering students at the undergraduate
level appears stagnant and the percentage of U.S. engineering
students at the graduate level is decreasing, those in other
parts of the world are increasing at a corresponding rate.
Although
the United States currently has a competitive advantage,
we cannot afford to become complacent. As Arden L. Bement,
head of the National Science Foundation, warned at a recent
workshop held here at MIT, “the redistribution of
engineering talent is going to be the battlefield of global
competitiveness for the future. If U.S. industry can find
engineering talent in the developing world for 20 cents
on the dollar, they are going to do so and probably should.
The challenge for U.S. engineering schools is to provide
students who offer five times the value added.”
At ESD,
we are training engineers who can offer that value by educating
students to understand systems thinking and leadership.
We believe in the fundamental importance of a “Big
D” definition of diversity – one that incorporates
the traditional areas of race, gender, age, and also embraces
the wide range of disciplines, research, and activities
necessary to addressing complex technological problems in
the social, political, environmental, and industrial context
of today’s world.
This
edition includes Big D diversity articles, including: evolving
student recruitment activities within ESD’s programs
and at diversity conferences such as the Society of Women
Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, and
the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; a piece
about ESD’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Professor,
Taft Broome from Howard University; a report by ESD Ph.D.
candidate Pedzisaye Makumbe on diversifying his perspective
on Engineering Systems while conducting summer research
at Sweden’s Linkoping University; several articles
on the environment, ranging from planning for diverse energy
systems to offshore wind power. Of course, we’re including
news of honors and awards by members of the ESD community,
as well as a list of upcoming events.
The
next edition of ESD Reports will focus on the evolving
world of Engineering Systems. We welcome your contributions!
Please check the schedule
for information on editorial submissions and deadlines.
As always,
we hope you find this edition of ESD Reports of
interest and of value. We look forward to receiving your
feedback.
Best wishes to
you and your loved ones for a happy, healthy, and prosperous
2006.
Daniel
Hastings
Director, MIT Engineering Systems Division
P.S.
Save the date! On April 4, Clyde Prestowitz, President of
the Economic Strategy Institute, will deliver the annual
Charles L. Miller Lecture.
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