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Guest author Dr. Gerald E. Galloway is a Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an affiliate Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland where his teaching and research focus is on water resources and natural disaster policy and management. Dr. Galloway is the recipient of the ASCE (OPAL) Outstanding Projects and Leaders Lifetime Achievement Award for government. His contributions have enhanced the health safety and economy of our nation and the world. Dr. Galloway was the keynote speaker at the 2011 joint Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri Society of Professional Engineers 60th Annual Engineers Week luncheon where I had the distinct pleasure of meeting him.
"Toto, I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore"
Expanding Your Knowledge Base: the 21st Century Imperative
Gerald E. Galloway, PE, PhD, University of Maryland
The 21st century is proving to be exciting, challenging, and full of surprises. One thing, however, that should not be a surprise is the increasing complexity of the world around us and the knowledge that is being developed to deal with this complexity. New disciplines such as those in the micro, nano, and bio worlds are emerging, and existing disciplines are modernizing both their structure and the methods by which they educate those joining there fields. Information technology is exploding and offering never imagined opportunities to solve difficult problems. New organizational structures appear daily. Teaming rather than individual effort is the order of the day. Globalization and its implications surround us. Those who will successfully operate in this new environment will possess knowledge and capabilities that did not exist a decade or two ago. In many fields, no longer will acquisition of a baccalaureate degree qualify an individual to practice at a professional level. The need for 21st-century professionals to stay ahead of the knowledge explosion requires many to be involved in formal post-baccalaureate education and associated continuous professional development.
Some disciplines require work at the Masters or higher level; others, specified college courses. Still others, recognizing the need for specialized training require completion of programs to obtain specific technical, organizational and managerial skills. Many recent college graduates, recognizing the need to meet the educational challenge, seek employment with firms that will support their professional growth. Others chose to begin their post-graduate education on their own through a variety of distance learning and other innovative opportunities. The education bar clearly is being raised, and it is by necessity that this change is taking place.
Today, a growing number of firms and agencies require that the employees or businesses they are hiring or with whom they are contracting provide evidence that they possess needed 21st century skills. In other cases, those possessing specific credentials are given additional credit during reviews.
The 21st century means change but it also means attention to education. Those that want to compete in their disciplines and the broader world around them will ensure that their educational background meets the 21st century demands of their chosen profession, and that where deficiencies exist, they take steps to obtain the body of knowledge that identified them as individuals ready and able to practice at the new professional level.
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