Task Force on Engineering Education for Texas in the 21st Century

Engineers and computer scientists are critical to the development and implementation of advanced technologies inTexas businesses and medical enterprises. The Texas Workforce Commission estimates that Texas will require nearly88,000 more engineers and computer scientists in the current decade, or approximately 9,000 new, well-qualifiedengineers and computer scientists each year. Texas colleges and universities fall short of meeting the current need, letalone the increasing demand.

The essential finding from this study is that the U. T. System can lead Texas in securing future economic vitality byaddressing the need for more engineers and computer scientists. The report makes five recommendations:

1. U. T. System institutions should enroll and graduate more engineers and computer scientists, increasingannual degree production substantially within a decade.
2. The U. T. System and its institutions should inform, inspire, and empower more young Texans to pursue collegedegrees in engineering and computer science by enhancing the K-12 pipeline.
3. U. T. System institutions should all develop even stronger interactions with industry through variousstrategies, including leading development of innovation clusters in key regions, expanding internship and co-opprograms, establishing a more significant industry-focused presence in Houston, making industry engagementin the instructional and research missions a key priority, and revamping intellectual property policy guidelines forindustry-sponsored research. Each institution should establish a stretch goal for the percent of its research thatis industry funded.
4. The research capability of our institutions should be encouraged and funded to investigate ways to gain morevalue from University Lands, thereby accelerating growth of the Permanent University Fund.
5. The U. T. System should brand this initiative to tie together the elements and convey the message nationallythat Texas is committed to producing the highest quality engineers and computer scientists.