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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 753 



be trusted by those above, his progress is 

 dependent upon knowledge of men. Cases 

 are not infrequent in the engineering world 

 in which the upward progress of an engi- 

 neer is absolutely stopped by his clumsiness 

 in dealing with men, even though he has 

 great skill in dealing with materials and 

 forces. It is our duty to teach our future 

 engineers not only about forces and ma- 

 terials, but also about man and his ways, to 

 bring it before them with emphasis that 

 their future success in utilizing their engi- 

 neering knowledge and skill depends upon 

 their ability to work with men, among men 

 and through men. 



In the College of Engineering we may 

 expect certain difficult problems to be ever 

 present, intertwined with a multitude of 

 other problems. The success of the college 

 depends largely upon our success in solving 

 these problems which are easily overlooked 

 and neglected because of their familiarity. 

 I intend to suggest but three examples. 



Language is one of the important tools 

 of an engineer. He must ordinarily do his 

 work through others. He must have the 

 power to convince. He must have the 

 ability to use English accurately and effect- 

 ively or be handicapped even in his strictly 

 engineering work. One who acquires the 

 ability to speak and write accurately and 

 well, usually secures with it the power to 

 think accurately. How can we best help 

 the student in his college days to acquire 

 the ability to speak and write well ? This 

 is a problem common to all colleges and to 

 all universities. To one who deals much 

 with recent graduates, it is discouragingly 

 evident that but mediocre success has been 

 attained in universities in solving this diffi- 

 cult problem. 



It is a comparatively easy matter to lead 

 a student along a given line of thought, but 

 how can the student be trained to think for 

 himself? That is one of the exceedingly 

 difficult problems which confront us in the 



College of Engineering in common with all 

 parts of the university. 



We should aim, in the College of Engi- 

 neering, to give our students a broad train- 

 ing, yet we desire to give them thorough 

 training along certain lines. How is the 

 broadening to be secured? Is it to be 

 gained from certain courses intended for 

 that especial purpose, or is it to be secured 

 by the manner of teaching each course, 

 even technical courses? This, again, is a 

 problem common to nearly all, if not all, 

 parts of the university. 



The real success of the College of Engi- 

 neering is dependent upon the solution of 

 ever-present problems of which these are 

 but examples. Because of the existence of 

 numerous problems of this character which 

 are common to the whole university, the 

 College of Engineering gains strength from 

 being a part of Northwestern University, 

 rather than a separate institution. Because 

 the engineer has a peculiar point of view, 

 and the courses in engineering have some 

 special advantages in connection with cer- 

 tain of these universal problems, the Col- 

 lege of Engineering may hope in time to 

 contribute a share toward the solution of 

 these problems in this university. 



Let us adopt as the motto of the College 

 of Engineering the words, "Culture for 

 usefulness." Let us put the emphasis 

 strongly on the last two words. The first 

 word alone may lead one astray, but the 

 three together are a sure guide. The at- 

 tempt to gain culture for the purpose of 

 increasing one's usefulness in the world is 

 essentially unselfish. In setting this motto 

 before our students and in thus suggesting 

 that they are to seek culture, not primarily 

 for themselves, but in order to increase 

 their usefulness in the world, usefulness of 

 the broadest kind in the great united 

 struggle of man for progress, we shall be 

 setting before them an ideal which in- 

 cludes all others, an ideal which urges one 



