Thus, when my NSF colleagues responsible for the various programs represented in this conference were planning their respective grantees meetings, we all quickly recognized the opportunity and desirability of combining the separate efforts. We did so not for the sake of building a huge attendance, but to provide a forum for the various experts and scholars to bounce ideas off one another from the different perspectives emphasized by the various programs, a vital element of innovation. Therefore, it is not an accident or coincidence that in this conference we have generic sessions and workshops crossing programmatic boundaries to share the best practices in partnering, multimedia courseware, distance learning, evaluation, dissemination, institutionalization, innovation, accessibility, and the like. These practices and practitioners represent an enormous body of assets in engineering education and educational technology. Conferees were invited to explore them as much as possible during the conference and stay connected with one another afterwards, regardless of program affiliation.
Engineers are at the forefront of creating and developing enabling technology for future education.
Ironically, many of our faculty have not embraced its use to the extent expected. While cost and other factors may have played a role, perhaps the greatest barrier has been the natural resistance to change. We must change along with them or risk losing our brightest to other professions. Since we believe that engineering is the enabler and crucial link between scientific discoveries and a strong economy and national defense, not having enough of the best people in engineering could be devastating to our nation for a long time to come. With the advent of powerful, inexpensive, and universally available high performance computing, broad-bandwidth communication, and multimedia technology, together with the pedagogical output of NSF's programs in education and curriculum development, we are at a confluence in history when all the potential of advances in learning technologies and methodologies can be realized to create significant new intellectual capital.