Why the next generation of UAE engineers must think beyond their equations

For decades, engineering education around the world, and in the UAE, has been built on a clear foundation: mastering the mathematical and conceptual foundations that allow us to design safe and reliable technological systems across a wide range of physical applications, encompassing such diverse areas as structures, water resources and environmental systems, chemical processing, computer and electrical applications, energy generation and conversion, and high level system design. The fundamentals required for success in these areas remain essential, but today’s engineering has changed drastically, and it is no overstatement to say engineering is undergoing a revolution. In part, this is due to the AI revolution currently impacting our entire society, but in truth, AI is only one of the drivers of this revolution.

In today’s market, engineers need to be able to move fluidly between classical approaches and the computational, algorithmic and data-driven methods. These methods leverage immense computing power to handle complexity that was previously unsolvable. Megaprojects are now megasystems, interwoven with data, sustainability and human behavior requirements. On top of this, engineers in different fields are being tasked with reimagining everything from our energy systems, transportation and infrastructure to the very materials we build with. Our professional world has become both far more complex and far more exciting.

As a consequence, one of the great, unspoken questions facing engineering schools globally today is whether we are striking the right balance between teaching engineering fundamentals and the increasingly powerful computational and simulation-based tools that dominate modern practice. A corollary to this question is whether we spend enough time giving our students a clear sense of societal context for the work they will do, which increasingly places demands on the non-technical portions of their education. And to add even further complication, most “grand challenge” applications require interdisciplinary teams working seamlessly for ultimate success, so educating students in a narrow, highly discipline-specific manner would likely be a disservice to most.

In many parts of the world, engineering graduates now train almost exclusively on sophisticated design and analysis software. While these tools are extraordinarily useful, they can tempt us to rely excessively on computer-generated outputs. At times, I hear industry friends complain that critical thinking has been replaced by button-clicking. They remark that what enables them to catch errors in digital models, mentor younger colleagues or challenge the results of automated systems is the strong mathematical and conceptual grounding they received as students. At the time, engineers were expected to learn the software on the job.

This dilemma of what balance to strike between conceptual and practical tools in an engineering curriculum is an international challenge, and one that even leading engineering programmes, our own included, must continually reflect on.

As an engineer myself, who has experienced a range of different educational settings across the US and Middle East, I remain confident that the right balance of depth and breadth is what tomorrow’s engineers (and other professionals) will need. One of the systems that best achieves this is the American liberal arts approach. In this model, a young engineering student will be asked to spend time understanding the basics of the natural sciences, the social sciences and humanities, without forsaking an in-depth understanding of key engineering concepts they will need throughout their careers.

This ensures that a typical graduate of an American liberal arts institution not only develops the relevant technical skills today’s workplaces require, but also develops strong critical thinking skills, as well as an awareness of the societal and environmental impact of their work, the strengths and weaknesses of their industry and how it intersects with other industries and sectors. This combination allows graduates to become true “systems thinkers,” who don’t just follow instructions, but also innovate. This combination is also very important in a practical sense, given that most young engineering graduates these days will make several career changes along their path and need to possess the flexibility and ability to learn as their circumstances and career opportunities evolve.

We can already see how indispensable such systems thinking has become in practice. Two of the UAE’s most recognisable landmarks, the Museum of the Future, designed by Buro Happold, and the Al Wasl Dome at Expo 2020, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), were only made possible through advanced parametric and algorithmic design. Once a niche software, it is now indispensable for 21st-century building. These and other projects also require engineers to become proficient in platforms such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), which enable them to coordinate information, manage multidisciplinary teams, and optimise decision-making across a project’s lifecycle.

The same shift is reshaping other sectors, too: from automotive firms using digital twins to optimise vehicle performance, to energy companies modelling entire grids in real time, to manufacturers relying on sensor data and automation to streamline production.

To help today’s students develop the type of holistic thinking they will need to meet future market demands, many colleges and universities will need to transform their approach. They will need to find ways of ensuring that students graduate with enough fluency in computational, simulation and other contemporary technologies, while also understanding the fundamentals and retaining the capacity to think independently of the systems they work on.

Schools will need to constantly review and update their curricula, ensure a wide array of partnerships with industry, strike the right balance between theoretical and practical applications, and work with others in the sector to discuss and shape the future of engineering, if they’re serious about reimagining how we educate the next generation of engineers in the UAE.

Alongside this, engineering students should be exposed to several opportunities to take part in professional and academic conferences and events on topics such as nanoengineering, smart materials, AI and others. Faculty can no longer just be researchers who occasionally lecture in the classroom, they need to be able to mentor and coach students, and seek and formalise new industry and government partnerships. When students are exposed to real-world projects, whether it be working on a pre-feasibility study for a hydro storage power plant or designing a multifunctional robotic arm for satellite docking, they grow and evolve in ways they simply could not within the four walls of a classroom.

Faculty should also be high-achievers in their own right, and able to mentor students who may choose to pursue academia and research as a career. When students see their faculty registering patents and working on innovations with the potential to transform entire economic sectors, they sit up and listen.

The key ingredient to the types of innovative work described above is not just individual or even departmental brilliance; it is a deliberately cultivated environment that encourages true multidisciplinary collaboration. The term “multidisciplinary innovation” is often invoked in academic circles, but, in my experience, it is not easy to achieve in practice. However, when an institution unlocks it, it can form the foundation of how it educates its engineers, and yield world-class results that enable its students and faculty to tackle real-world challenges and find solutions that make a difference at a national or even international level.

To ensure AUS continues training engineers capable of true innovation, I will remain on the side of balance. This is ultimately what I believe will produce a generation of engineers who can harness the power of modern tools without becoming dependent on them, applying creativity, critical judgement and an ethical perspective to every challenge.

The next generation of UAE engineers must think beyond their equations and traditional design methods because the nation’s ambitions demand nothing less. To shape the UAE’s next 50 years, engineers will need to be systems thinkers: entrepreneurial, adaptable and committed to lifelong learning. They must also be socially, economically and culturally aware, understanding the long-term consequences of their decisions and the impact they will have on future generations.

I believe that most universities in the UAE are committed to producing graduates who can navigate this new world with integrity and imagination, but the responsibility cannot rest solely with us. Industry, government, and policymakers must work together to create a national ecosystem that encourages engineers to think critically, innovate boldly and design sustainably. If we get this right, the UAE will not just keep pace with global engineering innovation, it will set the pace.

Tod A. Laursen is Chancellor of the American University of Sharjah (AUS)