Role of Computing: Practitioners' Perspective (2002)

The Education Committee of the Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT) of ASCE conducted two surveys to assess the current computing component of the curriculum in civil engineering. The two surveys were targeted at two different segments within the civil engineering profession: educators and practitioners. This paper presents the findings of the survey directed to civil engineering practitioners concerning their perspective on the issue. This survey is a follow-up of surveys conducted by the Education Committee in 1990 and 1995. The presentation of the results includes an analysis of some of the changes in the survey results since 1990. Introduction Many attempts have been made to define the computing skills required of civil engineering graduates. In 1985 Worcester Polytechnic Institute conducted a survey to examine applications of the microcomputer in civil engineering practice [Gerstenfeld, 1985]. In 1986 the Education Committee of the Technical Council on Computer Practices (TCCP) of ASCE conducted a survey about computer resources and attitudes towards computing in civil engineering programs [Fontane, 1985]. Another task committee of the TCCP Education Committee conducted a survey in 1989 to assess the current computing curriculum in civil engineering education and the computing needs in civil engineering practice [Law. 1990]. In 1991 Baker and Rix of Georgia Institute of Technology conducted a survey to obtain information that would enable them to better assess the role of computing within the curricula [Baker, 1991]. Henry summarized the information collected by these surveys and discussed a 1 Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5316. Email: Abudayyeh@wmich.edu. 2 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, North Caroline State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908. 3 Ph.D., Guest Researcher, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), 100 Bureau Dr., Building 304, Stop 8262, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8262. University Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University. Email: sfenves@cme.nist.gov. 4 Ph.D., Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020. Email: law@ce.stanford.edu. 5 Ph.D., Professor, School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management, Rogers Williams University, Bristol, RI 02809-2921. Email: roneill@rwu.edu. 6 Ph.D., Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, North Caroline State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908