Matriculation: Re-engineering engineering

At its tiny campus in Needham, Mass., outside Boston, the tuition-free Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering is trying to design a new kind of engineer. Most engineering schools stress subjects like differential calculus and physics, and their graduates tend to end up narrowly focused and likely to fit the stereotype of a socially awkward clock-puncher. Olin, on the other hand, came into being to make engineers “comfortable as citizens and not just calculating machines,” says Richard K. Miller, the president of the school. Olin is stressing creativity, teamwork and entrepreneurship–and, in no small part, courage. (New York Times)

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