Education: Accelerating the practice of engineering

Considers the course structure of engineering students at the Harvey Mudd College, Los Angeles. The author explains that the students must complete at least a third of their curricular programme in the humanities and social sciences, the aim being to `humanise' engineers. An integral part of this engineering course is the design engineering phase where teams of three or four undergraduates undertake professional design and development projects for industry and government, which helps in giving them an insight to industry.