By Design

Thayer’s dean gets engineers to embrace the liberal arts.

“We proudly remain the only leading research institution that requires all students to earn an A.B. before earning the professionally accredited engineering degree,” says Thayer’s dean, Joseph Helble. “Engineering teaches us to ask ‘why not’ and to invent a technical solution, but without the liberal arts to teach us to understand the how and why of a problem, it would be easy to design a technically elegant tool that helps no one.” In other words, context matters. Technology matters too. “We believe that everyone—not just engineers—has a stake in understanding the technology dependent world we inhabit,” says Helble. “It’s more than just computers and smart phones. Technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives, from healthcare to security to communications to energy.” Any Dartmouth student can take a project-based engineering course, leading to a better understanding of what Helble calls “the limitations and trade-offs inherent in all technology.” The school’s innovative approach fuels entrepreneurship. The National Academy of Engineering has awarded Thayer a $500,000 prize in recognition of its entrepreneurship program. Students with the best projects in various courses are encouraged to pursue patents, and about one in four professors has started a company—“one of the highest levels for an engineering faculty anywhere,” notes Helble.