Search for: All records

The United States’ global leadership is predicated upon not only a sufficient technical workforce, but more critically, leaders among them who will inspire them to create the technology better and faster than our competitors. Caterpillar, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens among others have created their own internal leadership development programs. This not only highlights the need for strong leadership in a work environment, but it also reveals the necessity for leadership education in new engineering employees. Industry is also responding to this shortage by supporting the creation of technical leadership development programs at universities. Leadership development is a relatively new and growing trend in engineering colleges with an estimated 80% of the programs in North America having been created in the past ten years. Through this partnership, a corporate sponsor and university can work together to implement a specialized curriculum that makes program graduates skilled and competent in their field upon graduation. A review of these leadership development programs will evaluate their key components that facilitate accountability, achievement, and excellence. This paper is based upon the results of a national survey of ASEE Engineering Leadership Division (LEAD) members to compare and contrast the innovative components that have been implemented within various engineering leadership development programs. The following components will be examined: cross-cultural education, team-based applied projects, leadership coursework, mentorship, and corporate sponsorship, among other components. The main objective of this paper is to examine these components, identify innovative practices, and promote the importance and growth of engineering leadership education.