Dear Colleagues,

Presently, the challenges young graduates must overcome in professional engineering are gigantic. These are not only the natural barriers of becoming a part of the working society, but also the need to be particularly expert in several domains to be socially competent and technologically up-to-date.

The academic staff in most universities, who are typically in their forties or fifties, has happily lived through a period when the advances in technology were enormous. From the first computer they ever used (which was probably once a week…) to their personal computers and other personal digital devices,

we are talking of a period of approximately forty years. This technology growth is exponential, so one can only dream of what is to come in the next forty years! This is the world for which engineering students must be prepared. The challenges they will be facing have nothing to do with the ones previous generations overcame. As in Darwin’s Natural Selection, the ones more equipped to survive will probably be the ones who scientifically grew up developing competences while learning the subjects. This, however, requires scientific and personal maturity.

The question is: How can we help them to get better prepared for that?

Undoubtedly, students should prepare themselves during their higher education in order to face the upcoming challenges. Teachers acknowledge students must comprehend and establish the necessary links between topics in order to mobilize the pertinent expertise to solve complex problems. This implies that students must think about each situation per se and be able to holistically put into practice what they have learned. Most likely, in the end, it comes down to solving the problem by applying a “simple” solution. However, as we all know, this pursued simplicity requires time and hard work to achieve. When facing a new problem, students must be scientifically and socially competent in knowing which paths to take to be successful. Professionally, this also includes being able to seek the necessary help from colleagues in other fields or the ability to lead a team towards finding the solution for a specific problem. That is essentially what engineering is about!

 The focus of this Special Issue is to enhance the discussion on any particular aspect regarding engineering students’ academic preparation. Even small cases representing small steps towards this bigger objective are welcomed. As long as these experiences are well described, properly grounded in engineering education pillars, tested (preferably), and scientifically analyzed, they are worth being acknowledged.

We intend to diversify our emphasis towards studies dedicated to teachers’ experiences, students’ learning, recent graduated engineering professional issues or even mindsets from within the professional world. 

Dr. Clara Viegas
Dr. Arcelina Marques
Dr. Gustavo Alves
Dr. Francisco José García-Peñalvo
Guest Editors

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• Engineering education
• Engineering internships
• Engineering professional contexts
• Engineering competences
• PBL cases in engineering
• Project management
• Engineering classroom practices