Dean's Thoughts - April 2023

Aligning curriculum with workforce needs

Engineering and computer science are facing talent shortages that are expected to worsen in future years. How do we address some of these urgent workforce needs? At Miami University’s College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), we have rolled out new degree programs that reflect and keep pace with these changes.

Based on an article in Forbes 2022, citing IDC, a leading market intelligence firm, there is a predicted need for four million developers by 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows almost 200,000 developer jobs will need filling each year through the end of the decade emphasizing the need for computer science and software engineers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also projects that information security analyst is the fastest-growing employment sector with a growth rate of 35% in the next ten years. Therefore, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is at an all-time high.

The manufacturing sector will have 4.6M manufacturing jobs to fill from 2018-2028, according to a 2018 Skills Gap Study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. This is due to retirements and onshoring of manufacturing. Only 2.2M of these jobs is projected to be filled, which will have a negative impact on the economy.

Hospitals, pharmaceuticals and medical device companies are searching for talented clinical engineers and biomedical engineers. McKinsey’s study on the future pharma workforce showed that 80% of pharma-manufacturing companies were seeing a skills mismatch. These companies want employees who are knowledgeable about regulatory approval processes so that medical devices or pharmaceuticals that have been developed by them can get to market in a timely manner. 

At CEC, we are constantly assessing workforce needs in our region. In response to some of these need assessments, we will start offering a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity and a Master of Science in Clinical Engineering this Fall. We have also rolled out a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering and a revamp of our Manufacturing Engineering curriculum to align with Industry 4.0.

The BS degree in Cybersecurity will prepare students to address some of the cybersecurity threats. During their studies, students will also be able to obtain required certificates that will make them competitive in the profession.

The clinical engineering degree program will train engineers to serve in hospital settings. In addition, students with engineering or health science degrees can enroll in our new regulatory affairs minor within clinical engineering so that they will have a more comprehensive background on how to get a medical device or pharmaceutical through the FDA approval process.

The BS in Robotics Engineering provides students with the necessary background to serve in any industry, which is increasingly relying on robotics and automation. The Smart Manufacturing realignment will enable our students to get a project based, hands on education in manufacturing engineering. We also offer Graduate certificates in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Evaluation for workforce development.

It is necessary as engineers and computer scientists that we bring that innovative and design thinking approach to our curriculum. We are also thinking of how to serve our students best because the current generation of students learn differently. A project based, hands on education is how they learn and that is how our curriculum has also evolved. Our faculty and business partners have worked tirelessly to develop our new degrees and certificates and update our current programs so that we meet the constantly evolving needs of the industries that rely on us for the workforce of the future.

With Love and Honor,

Beena Sukumaran

The Dinesh & Ila Paliwal Dean of the College of Engineering & Computing