When most people consider engineers, they immediately picture some geeky person sitting by themselves and crunching numbers all day. In reality, an engineer does a lot more than crunch numbers. (the geeky isolated part might be correct…) At the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, there is an emphasis on critical thinking from day one. Some of the very first engineering classes aim to teach students the importance of going beyond the formulas and numbers. This includes various design competitions, where the process of synthesis is focused upon, tests and homework based around real-life problem solving skills, where the process of application is developed, and computer programming courses, to ensure students are able to fully utilize the technology available to them for complete and accurate analysis of engineering projects. It is more than apparent that the Viterbi curriculum is oriented to transform number-savvy kids into full-fledged, critically thinking members of the engineering community.
Throughout my early engineering career at USC, I am more than pleased with the amount of critical thinking in the curriculum. I am constantly being challenged academically and I feel that I have learned a lot in a relatively short period of time. Viterbi’s curriculum definitely has my seal of approval.
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