The concorde doesn't fly anymore

ABSTRACT

While computing technology has undoubtedly changed the world in which we live, the changes have been exaggerated. Talk of a hi-tech internet-driven revolution during the last decade is inaccurate from a historical perspective: (a) It belittles previous technological achievements; for example, the landings on the moon between 1969-1972 were achieved with less computing capability than a PDA has today. (b) So much of the "new" technology dates back thirty years or more; for example, how many of our students know when the first email was sent? This loss of historical perspective has led to demands for an artifact-driven curriculum that I believe is inadequate for the education of future computer scientists and computational engineers. (The latter is a new term I wish to propose for people engaged in the scientifically-based design and construction of systems that perform computations. It is linguistically modeled on the terms mechanical and electrical engineer, and is intended to take the place of the term software engineer.) A comparison of the CC2001 curriculum with the curriculum of a traditional, "non-revolutionary" engineering discipline points to what I believe the future of CS education should be.