German Engineering
“The Long Decline of the German Engineer
Germany has lost its edge in key future technologies. This is due to failures in education and a fear of new technology. […] Engineering education in Germany has not kept pace with the demands of the digital age. Computer science and programming were long treated as secondary subjects, even though their importance has been undisputed for decades. […]
Today, the former glory of the German engineer has faded. Law and political science dominate the state and public administration. […] Every second head of a federal or state authority has a legal background — a higher proportion than in any other European country. […]
The great challenges of our time are not merely legal, ethical, or political in nature. They are, above all, technical problems. If German society wants to find answers here, it once again needs more people in positions of responsibility who see technology not as a problem, but as a solution. Engineers belong in these roles — not just in factory halls and laboratories, but also in parliaments and government agencies. And perhaps even once again at the center of a narrative that does not fear the future, but designs it.”
Translated from this article.
Thanks Michael Rose for this guest article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung!
I don‘t agree with everything in the article (for example, computer science has roots in math as well, which explains why CS and math are often in the same faculty; not a major issue if you ask me; nobody would question the relevance of math for engineering), but it is certainly a great contribution to the debate on why Germany is dropping behind other counties when it comes to technologies of the future.