How CETYS Engineering is Preparing Its Students for Success

Abstract

The Center for Technical and Higher Education (CETYS University) is a private institution of educational excellence, born in 1961 in Baja California under the auspices of a group of visionary entrepreneurs committed to education. CETYS Engineering recognized in the Spring of 2016 that it needed a formal organization to provide third-party, external feedback for the advancement of the CETYS College of Engineering. An Engineering Advisory Council (EAC) was formed that Spring.
At the May 2017 meeting of the EAC it was asked:

What competencies are needed for the engineer of tomorrow?
How is CETYS preparing its engineering students to meet this challenge?

These two simple questions lead to a year-long study conducted by the EAC. The results of this effort are presented in this paper. Key findings are as follows:
With a broad industry sample size of 42 we determined what are the most important Domains of Attributes, Skills and Abilities an engineer needs to possess.

Using this Domain prioritization we then learned “What are the biggest Competency Gaps?” that industry is finding in engineers today.

Using this Gap analysis we then looked at the CETYS curriculum and determined that almost all of the gaps are overtly addressed in multiple classes.

Finally, the Engineering College is taking action to determine if those not formally addressed can be addressed in the educational experience.