Keywords: engineer, education, innovative technology, activity, high-tech, technical knowledge,
specialist.
Currently, interest in development of engineering education is a growing. The reason is that engineering
education is the engine of any economic reform. The rapid development of science and technology, the fast
change in technologies, globalization of economic processes in the world, makes it necessary to pay special
attention to training highly qualified engineering personnel.
In The Message Of President N. Nazarbayev to nation of Kazakhstan formulated the state strategic task of
education, which should ensure the modern level of education, training qualified specialists in any country of
the world and provide quality educational services at the level of world standards [1].
The engineer must have a good preparation in the fundamental, exact, natural Sciences – physics,
mathematics, chemistry, and computer science, foreign languages, to have sufficient information on the
economy, ecology, psychology, deeply internalized universal values of Humanities.
Worldwide is now developing innovative engineering education, aimed at developing specialists in the field
of engineering and technology is not only certain knowledge and skills but also special competences focused
on the ability of their application in practice, in the real case, while creating new competitive products.
Universities of the world improve educational programs and curricula. In the first year students show the
relationship of the proposed training material with their future engineering activities, prospects of technical,
technological, economic and social development of society.
The new content, and problem-oriented methods and project-organized learning technologies in
engineering education allow new content based on a complex of competencies, including fundamental and
technical knowledge, ability to analyze and solve problems using an interdisciplinary approach, mastering
project management, openness to communication and teamwork.
The aim of modern engineering education is to prepare competitive personality. Competitive personality
needs to have certain characteristics, which, along with the high level of general education, general and
professional culture, must have psychological and pedagogical training, the ability and willingness to
implement educational tasks.
The real engineer must be a comprehensively educated person, in order to be a driving force of
technological and social progress. In complex organizational and managerial structures of modern high-tech
production for competent solutions to production problems, the engineer must be proficient in many subjects,
including, for example, management of intellectual property and the knowledge of foreign languages,
increasing the value produced by a specialist.
Engineering work is characterized by rich contents, a large proportion of heuristic and non-standard labor
operations. It is mental, intellectual work, implying a high educational and cultural level of the «Creator of
technology». All engineers solve a common task – the creation and operation of technical objects, transforming
materials, energy and information in a more useful form. The engineer creates what has still never been. The
need to improve productivity of engineering work has led to significant differentiation.
Now there is not simply engineers – there are software engineers, design engineers, technologists,
designers, etc. At the same time the most qualified experts (at the level of chief designers and technologists,
project managers, experts) should have a fairly complete idea of all the cycles of design and operation of the
designed product or system to have a broad technical and scientific expertise, deep mathematical knowledge,
creative approach to all design phases [2].
Improving the quality of engineering education is a prerequisite for the development of innovative
economy. One of the main areas of activity of universities is scientific research in which new knowledge, new
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technologies are created, therefore, the formation of perspective programs of training of the engineering sphere
should become a basis of formation of innovation-oriented policy in the field of development of techniques
and technologies. Innovation activity of universities in the field of high technologies, for example, the creation
of technology parks as elements of market-oriented infrastructure, will create conditions for implementation
of innovative methods of training specialists in engineering sector.
Innovative engineering education is the process and the result of the purposeful formation of certain
knowledge, skills and methodological culture, as well as comprehensive training in the field of engineering
and technology to innovative engineering activities through appropriate methods and learning content.
At present innovative engineering activity plays a key role in ensuring the country's economy the leading
positions on the world stage, and reflects new forms of integration of science, technology and production.
The main characteristics of innovation are [3]:
- strengthening of the creative nature of the activities – ability to creatively and unconventionally to solve
professional problems, to quickly navigate through large volumes of information;
- integration of engineering functions and activities – effective combination of invention and design
functions in the design of products and technologies and organization of production, the ability to make
decisions;
- the desire to continuously improve the quality of goods and services that meet market requirements;
- effective interprofessional communication and willingness to work effectively in a team with other
professionals to solve professional tasks.
For the effective functioning of the integrated systems of education, science and production necessary to
create an integrated system of innovative engineering education.
Possessing the relevant competencies, generated with the help of innovative methods and approaches,
professionals will be able in the course of their professional activities to identify, analyze non-standard
problems, to adapt to changes in the external environment and to make effective management decisions [4].
Training of students is now carried out according to the new state educational standards, which have been
formed, usually together with the community of employers that result in increased mutual understanding of
the parties. It is necessary to continue joint work on curricula and programs, with specific potential employers
– enterprises and institutions, consumers of graduates with a degree produced by a specialist [5].
Educational programs must present the following requirements that ensure the development of future
specialist ability to think, to act, to make decisions.
The experience of recent decades has shown that active forms of learning, such as business games, trainings,
etc. much more efficient than traditional forms of lecture and seminar classes. It is necessary to build training
process on the basis of constant intensification of activity of students while allowing to model the subject and
social content of professional work, transforming academic work of a student in the professional activity [6].
An important feature of the new trends in the development of engineering education is linked with the
construction at the high school educational process-based on integration with industry. The base of this system
– the integrated system «school – basic chair – basic enterprise». The training is conducted by leading
specialists in these enterprises, the development and introduction of new technologies into production.
Students are placed in industry for their implementation of educational engineering programs. This practice
shows that training gives them the experience of engineering work, which plays an important role for future
growth of their professional career.
The role of engineering education is not only to popularize the engineering profession and the development
of technical Sciences, but also to ensure the formation of a special layer of people-creators, whose activities
aim to change the objective world through the implementation of scientific and technological innovation. This
aspect becomes of primary importance, because on the agenda today is the development of innovation systems,
formation of the scientific and engineering teams, capable of conducting research and development of world
level [7].
Proceeding from the above, we formulate the main challenges facing engineering education at the moment:
1. Curriculum development specialties taking into account the regional component (the unified information
and educational space, creating databases, gain computer training, including the study of programming
languages and of special applications used in educational process when studying disciplines in the development
of new generations of technical devices and technological processes).
2. The creation of joint research centers, design and technological laboratories, to solve the relevant tasks
(questions) in the field of science and production.
3. Strengthening communication departments of industrial companies and research institutes.
4. Determining the need for engineering and technical personnel with the required specializations.
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5. Development of joint programs of professional orientation work aimed at breeding and selecting of the
most prepared and talented students. For example, the enterprise may conclude contracts with them, paying
the costs associated with the training of specialists of the required profile. Such contracts can be concluded
with high school students by imposing on them certain economic obligations of University studies required by
the company specialty.
6. Provision of enterprises of the departments with the most modern equipment. The departments use the
most modern technologies of training for targeted training.
Thus, high-quality engineering education is intended to prepare graduate competent to implement
production-technology, design, research and organizational-administrative activity.
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