Early History of Civil Engineering Education: the United States Military Academy
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Technical Education: A National Imperative IEEE New Hampshire Section Fifth Annual Awards Banquet Manchester, NH November 1, 2007 Keynote Address Colonel Barry L. Shoop, Ph.D. IEEE Region 1 Director Professor and Deputy Head Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science United States Military Academy West Point, New York Outline Technical Education: Historical Examples The U.S. Military Academy – West Point, The Early Days – Engineering Education and its role in a nascent America – A Historical Perspective. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan Engineering Education: Current Context Insights on the Current Terrorist Movement Final Thoughts West Point During the Revolutionary War Located at a strategically important point on the Hudson River. Heavily fortified, with the aid of Polish military engineer, Thaddeus Kosciuszko. The Founding of USMA Engineers are very scarce, rare, and dear … we want many and seem to have none. I think it is high time we should have an Academy of this Education. - John Adams, 1776 We must not conclude that service of the engineer is limited to constructing fortifications. This is but a single branch of their profession; their utility extends to almost every branch of war; besides embracing whatever respects public buildings, roads, bridges, canals, and all such works of a civil nature. – James McHenry, Secretary of War, 1800 Established by Congress in 1802. Intended to meet the nation’s critical needs for military and civil engineers. The Nation’s First School of Engineering Alden Partridge First Professor of Engineering in the U. S. Second Superintendent of West Point. Founded the American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in 1819 (Norwich University) and the Virginia Military Institute in 1839. Class of 1806 Sylvanus Thayer Superintendent of USMA from 1817-1833. Brought the French system of math and science-based engineering education to the U.S. and instituted it at USMA. Developed the first coherent curriculum at West Point, based on engineering program of study from Ecole Polytechnique. In 1833 left the Academy and founded the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Class of 1808 The “Thayer System” Four-year academic program, based on civil engineering— design and construction of roads, bridges, canals, and fortifications. Classes divided into small sections “Scale of marking” and daily recitations Rigid discipline and high standards of achievement Formed the pattern for technical education in the U.S. The U. S. Military Academy The Nation’s first school of engineering. 19th Century graduates made enormous contributions: To the development of the Nation’s infrastructure To the establishment of scientific and engineering programs at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Impact on the National Infrastructure George G. Meade (USMA 1835) Surveyed the Sabine River Boundary of the Republic of Texas. George McClellan (USMA 1846) Led an elaborate expedition of the Pacific Northwest. Edward G. Beckwith (USMA 1842) Surveyed designed the route for first transcontinental railroad. William S. Smith (USMA) Built the first all-steel bridge to span the Mississippi River. Herman Haupt (USMA 1835) Distinguished Civil War railroader, invented the pneumatic drill. Impact on the National Infrastructure Charles P. Stone (USMA 1845) Laid the base for the Statue of Liberty. Leslie R. Groves (USMA 1918) Commander, Manhattan Project. Vice President, Sperry Rand Corporation. William M. Kaula (USMA 1948) Professor, University of California, Los Angeles. Chief, National Geodetic Survey. Thomas H. Johnson (USMA 1965) Director, White House Science Council. Impact on the Nation’s Universities “The period from the end of the War of 1812 to the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 was a relatively peaceful period for the U.S., during which many West Point graduates resigned from the Army to pursue civilian careers. They were widely recruited as professors of mathematics, natural philosophy, and engineering by the new technical schools created in that period. Mathematics and science texts written by academy graduates were widely used in American Colleges. By 1868 more than 150 West Point graduates had entered the field of education.” -Streett Impact on the Nation’s Universities: Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute (1824) USMA texts used at RPI: Legendre’s Geometry Davies (translated) Bourdon’s Algebra Davies (translated) Shades, Shadows and Perspective Davies Surveying Davies Analytical Geometry Church Calculus Church Civil Engineering Mahan Industrial Drawing Mahan Acoustics and Optics Bartlett Analytical Mechanics Bartlett Impact on the Nation’s Universities Charles Davies (USMA 1815) Professor of Mathematics at USMA, 1815-1837. Later Professor of Mathematics at Trinity & Columbia. Horace Webster (USMA 1818) First President of the City College of New York. Edward Courtenay (USMA 1821) Professor of Mathematics at Universities of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Edward Courtenay Impact on the Nation’s Universities Alexander Dallas Bache (USMA 1825) Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at University of Pennsylvania. Regent of the Smithsonian Institution. Principal founder and first President of the National Academy of Sciences. Robert E. Lee (USMA 1829) Served as President of Washington University (later Washington and Lee). z William Norton (USMA 1831) Professor of Civil Engineering at Alexander Dallas Bache New York University and later Brown University. First Dean of Engineering at Yale University. Impact on the Nation’s Universities Jacob W. Bailey (USMA 1832) Honorary degree from College of New Jersey (Princeton) President American Association for the Advancement of Science. E. Parker Scammon (USMA 1837) Professor of Mathematics, Seton Hall. President, Polytechnic College. Henry L. Eustis (USMA 1842) Professor of Engineering & Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard University. William P. Trowbridge (USMA 1848) Professor of Mathematics, University of Michigan. Professor of Dynamical Engineering, Yale. Professor of Engineering, Columbia University. Impact on the Nation’s Universities Oliver Howard (USMA 1854) Founder and first president of Howard University. Robert Fletcher (USMA 1868) Professor, Dartmouth College. Director, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College. Winfield S. Chaplain (USMA 1870) Professor Harvard University. Professor Union College. Chancellor, Washington University. Edward S. Holden (USMA 1870) President, University of California. Impact on the Nation’s Universities Lyman Hall (USMA 1881) President, Georgia Institute of Technology. Frederic Hinrichs (USMA 1902) Professor, University of Rochester. Professor and Dean, California Institute of Technology. William Williams (USMA 1902) Professor, University of California, Berkeley. Dwight D. Eisenhower (USMA 1915) President, Columbia University. James L. Green (USMA 1928) Professor, Princeton University. 20th Century Contributions Ralph Tudor (USMA 1923) Senior engineer, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. James Endler (USMA 1953) Managed construction of the World Trade Center complex. Designed Disney’s EPCOT Center. Howard Graves (USMA 1961) Chancellor, Texas A&M University. Fletcher Lamkin (USMA 1964) President, Westminster College. What Does History Tell Us? A strong educational structure is important to the Nation Exploration and surveying. Infrastructure development: — Transportation — Utilities — Communications Development of goods and services (wealth). Educational advancement. Afghanistan • 250,000 square km ― slightly smaller than Texas • Hindu Kush mountain range extends 600 miles north to south dividing the nation into 3 distinct regions A Country of Extremes z Population- 25 million z Ethnic makeup: 44% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, z 10% Hazara, 8% Uzbek, 13% other minority z (Aimaks, Turkmen, Blalocks) z Religion: 84% Sunni, 15% Shia, 1% other z Languages: 32 languages and dialects. Pashtu, z Dari (most widely used), Tajik and Turkic z Literacy rate is 31% z Population Growth Rate: 3.54%. z Life expectancy 47 yrs z Average family size: 6 The National Military Academy of Afghanistan Fall of 2003 Afghanistan considered several models. Sandhurst (England) St Cyr (France) U.S. Military Academy Rationale. Lack of educational institutions. New constitution. Democratic model of civilian leadership. Professional officer corps. Dedicated service to the nation. Four-year, Western-style undergraduate model. Context: The People The Home of the National Military Academy The Home of the National Military Academy Developing the Academic Structure Linkages to Kabul Military High School Chemistry Class at Kabul Military High School Linkages to Kabul University Linkages to Kabul University Afghan Candidate for West Point Shoaib Yosoufzai – Selected for a West Point Preparatory Scholarship Program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Mr. Yosoufzai joined the West Point Class of 2009 in the summer 2005. Recent Activities NMAA Opened in February 2005 5 February 2005 – Cadet Basic Training 21 March 2005 – Opening Ceremony 22 March 2005 – Academics Began First Class: 120 cadets Completed Facilities The NMAA Entrance The Faculty Cadet Basic Training First Day of Classes – 23 March 2005 Technical Education – Current Context Continued Critical Need. “Science and technology have never been more essential to the defense of the nation and the health of our economy.” President George W. Bush “This nation must prepare with great urgency to preserve its strategic and economic security.” The National Academies – October