The U.S. engineering education enterprise is challenged to produce a diverse engineering workforce with the capability to meet the rapidly changing demands of global engineering practice and national competitiveness and security—it must develop the capacity for continual renewal rather than engaging in periodic reforms. Many within the enterprise are now engaged in defining, developing and institutionalizing scholarship in engineering and engineering technology education.

As the lead society for engineering and engineering technology education, the American Society for Engineering Education is responsible for charting the course for engineering and engineering technology as a scholarly field. The approaches to this challenge discussed at the 2006 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition mirror the broad research strategies successfully applied to other engineering challenges. Over 3,000 engineering educators, industry leaders, and government officials convened in Chicago, Illinois from June 18-21 to discuss the current state and the future of engineering education.

Highlights from the conference include the main plenary session on the topic of “Advancing Scholarship in Engineering Education: Launching a Year of Dialogue,” a discussion between panelists from the government, academia, and industry, as well as a press conference on ASEE’s Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges. For more information on leading research in the field of engineering education, search the proceedings from past ASEE annual conferences.