I am honored to present this special issue on Design Engineering Education. As I have become more involved in student competition projects, I find that I am more concerned than ever about what our students are learning. I can test their understanding of mechanical advantage, material properties and stress analysis, but what about the research, drawing, purchasing, coordinating, assembly, testing and reworking involved team engineering.
Clearly without the fundamentals nothing else matters, but then when the fundamentals are in place the rest of this must happen effectively for engineering to be successful. In the past our industry colleagues would teach these details, but the demands of the modern marketplace are making them less patient with our students' inexperience. This is one of many challenges that I believe research in design engineering education can address to our benefit as researchers, educators and engineers.
Please welcome this new contribution to research in mechanical design.
