Engineering at Dordt College

Engineering and computer scientists are in such demand that some expect the annual quota of H1-B visas for workers in these categories will be filled in one day according to the Washington Post. This is really no joke, it is simply the case that the government runs an annual lottery for these oversubscribed visas on April 1 each year.

We feel the demand for engineers and computer scientists here at Dordt College too. In engineering and computer science our graduating students of May, 2007, were 100% placed “in major.” Most of these students accepted offers for work or graduate school prior to graduation. I feel like I could have placed each of my advisees three times over and still there would have been job openings available. This year we see the same demand again. The demand is that strong, both locally in the Siouxland Area (Northwest Iowa, Southwest Minnesota Southeast South Dakota, and Northeast Nebraska) and in much of North America.

How long can this good news last? In the years from 2006 to 2016 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the employment of network, systems and communications analysts will grow about 55%, employment of computer software engineers will grow about 45%, and employment in “professional, scientific, and technical services” will grow by about 29%. These are among the fastest growing areas of the economy. More analysis of the BLS report linked above has been done by the IEEE, which finds that “Eight of the top 30 occupations by growth rate are in engineering and computer science specialties.” With statistics like that, not only should there be jobs available four years from now, there should be good long-term opportunities for timely promotion after graduation to management and technical service jobs that are above the entry levels.

Nobody can predict the future and times may change, but a least for now, Dordt’s graduates are in high demand and the forecasts are favorable in spite of the banking industry’s current woes.

Update, Saturday, April 5, 2008

Yesterday evening a local TV station ran a news story on the topic of the local job market and the prospects for students looking for summer jobs. To quote from the story, “. . .we have more summer job opportunities than ever.” You can read the transcript and view the video here. The story does not specifically mention engineering internships, but business are recruiting Dordt’s engineering students just as much or more than they did in the past. (”Keloland” is the TV station’s trade name for the four state area of South Dakota, Southwest Minnesota, Northwest Iowa, and and Northeast Nebraska, the area served by this station’s signal. The station’s call letters are “KELO.” )

In Dordt’s EGR 304, Embedded Computer Systems course we use a lot of assembly language since we desire detailed control of the hardware. When a higher level language is useful, we like the C language. Many people who are used to writing in higher level languages question this choice. Why not use Java for example? Indeed, Java is generally the first choice for teaching programming to new students.

Some say that the choice of language is a “religious choice. ” That carries a number of connotations. Sometimes what is meant is that a language embodies some very important concept(s) which will color all your programming in that language. Thus the choice of a programming language is so fundamental as to be like a religious choice. In this perspective the choice for teaching the Java language first is founded on having a high regard for object-oriented, concurrent, and structured programs. Those are the underlying “religious” principles of Java. Once you have chosen Java as the language, you can’t help but write object-oriented, concurrent, and structured code, even if you don’t really know what you are doing! (I’m not claiming that a choice for Java will automatically help you write good object-oriented, concurrent, and structured code.)

When you are programming for an embedded system, object-oriented programming, concurrency, and structure are not everything nor even dominant concerns, thus Java might not be (probably is not) the best choice. Instead detailed control of the hardware and the timing of execution is needed. Thus we use the C language when high-level code is needed.

Recently however two Professors Emeritus who now preside over a company called “AdaCore” have been a few voices calling for giving students a wider introduction to programming in general, including more of the C language too. In a nutshell the argument is based on giving students fundamental understanding of programming methods, rather than relying on the syntax of a particular language to enforce the fundamental methods. A recent article in CrossTalk is a good case in point. Here’s a quotation from the conclusion of this article:

A well-rounded CS curriculum will include an advanced course in programming languages that covers a wide variety of languages, chosen to broaden the understanding of the programming process, rather than to build a résumé in perceived hot languages. . . .

When you step into a plane, you are putting your life in the hands of software which had better be totally reliable. As a computer scientist, you should have some knowledge of how this level of reliability is achieved. In this day and age, the fear of terrorist cyber attacks have given a new urgency to the building of software that is not only bug free, but is also immune from malicious attack. Such high-security software relies even more extensively on formal methodologies, and our students need to be prepared for this new world.

The text of the above in the original Latin, or in English

In honor of Reformation Day, let me briefly list the “five solas” that emerged from the reformation.

Sola scriptura (by scripture alone)
Sola fide (by faith alone)
Sola gratia (by grace alone)
Solus Chrstus (Christ alone)
Soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone)

Dordt College has chosen “Soli Deo gloria” as the campus motto, but of course we also recognize the other solas. Consider for just one small example my previous blog entry, “Ee to the Pie Eye Plus One Equals Zero.” To which I say, “Soli Deo Gloria!”

Many bloggers are remembering 10/31/1517. For a sampling of what others are writing, click here.

Esther and Mordecai
“Called to the Kingdom for a time such as this.”

One of the privileges of being at a Christian College is the opportunity to worship together at Chapel. Recently Professor Adams spoke in Chapel on the topic of “Stewardship of Technology and Natural Resources.” Maybe by reading this blog entry you can experience a brief moment of meditation and worship.

Call to Worship
Based on Psalm 8, we sang with organ accompaniment the hymn,
“Lord our Lord, Thy Glorious Name.”

Message (summary)
Mordecai’s words to Esther were that she was, “called to the kingdom for a time such as this.” These words apply to all of us down through the ages. In our era when pollution and limited resources are becoming ever more difficult to manage it is fitting that we consider how Christians might respond. Let’s see if we can glean some insights from scripture.

Opening Scripture

The LORD exists forever; your word is firmly fixed in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand today, for all things are your servants. –Psalm 119:89-91

Our first basic theme: All things and creatures exist to serve God. When we think about technology, we think of certain types of things people make, like bridges and computers. These things are to exist first of all to serve God. We need to exercise our stewardship responsibilities over these things first of all with respect to God. Where better to hear about our responsibilities with respect to technology than from the scriptures. Psalm 8, which we sang at the opening of this chapel says:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. –Psalm 8:3-8

Our second basic theme: We may be obedient or disobedient stewards, but we cannot avoid being stewards. And stewardship is more than being frugal. There are all kinds of aspects to stewardship, such as acting from an educated understanding of the creation, a sense of ethics, and recognizing historical perspective, and so forth. As “rulers” we should not interpret our stewardship as merely being frugal (as with money).

But we are up against a challenge. We have sinned.

Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. –Hosea 4:1-3

Our third basic theme: The fall is radical. All things are corrupted by sin and the curse. But God is grieved by this. He loves us AND he loves his creation which we are to steward. Listen to the way God speaks to “the land” in Ezekiel:

…prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I speak in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I swear with uplifted hand that the nations around you will also suffer scorn. “ ‘But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will multiply the number of people upon you, even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance;…’ ” –Ezekiel 36:7-12

Fourth basic theme: Although the non-human creation suffers under the curse because of human sin, it is through its relationship with us, God’s image bearers, that the non-human creation will be healed and become fruitful in the way the Lord has planned. That relationship is bidirectional. We steward, and thereby shape the non-human creation. But the non-human creation, in turn, shapes us. In Ezekiel’s time, God’s people farmed the hills and built towns in the valleys. And those hills and valleys with their farms and towns sustained the people, but also shaped, and reinforced the shape that Israel’s culture was taking.

Today, in the 21st century, we build cell-phones, high definition TV’s, and jet airliners. But those cell-phones, high definition TV’s and jet airliners, in turn, shape us according to the values that led us to build them in the first place. This bi-directional relationship between the human and non-human creation—particularly technology—requires that our stewardship be a discerning stewardship. A stewardship that is prophetically critical of disobedience and a stewardship that points in the direction of obedient technology.

All the more reason why we need to know the ground of our stewardship activities, which is, of course, the redemption of the whole of creation—human and non-human—that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen as Paul tells us about Christ and creation, where he says:

…by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. –Colossians 1:16-20

What? “To reconcile all things?” Yes, by his atoning death. “All things” includes humans, of course. It includes as well stars and galaxies, lions and dandelions, hills and valleys. But it also includes computers, telecommunication technology, medical technology, and transportation technology. And just in case you remain a wee bit skeptical about the significance of Easter for modern technology, I will close this chapel by reading to you from the prophet Isaiah. Would you believe it, in Isaiah 60, the Lord is speaking to a technological artifact? That technological artifact is the city of Jerusalem. And, of course, in this prophecy that great city—that which will become The New Jerusalem when Christ returns—represents God’s redeemed creation: his called out people as well as the healed and made-new non-human creation. Which means the prophet is speaking to you, to Dordt College, and to all that we are studying and working toward while we are here. Listen to what he says:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

“Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

“Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” –Isaiah 60:1-3, 5, 8-9.

We—if we are faithful in our stewardship task—we are those children coming from afar, with the good technological things of the twenty-first century. So let’s accept our role as discerning stewards of the non-human creation and shape obediently that bit of history the Lord has called us to.

Closing Prayer
Our father in heaven when we consider the beauty of the mountains, and valleys, the quantity of the galaxies, the energy you have provided for us in fossil fuels, uranium, wind, waterfalls and sunshine, and when we think of living things, microscopic and macroscopic–all of what you have entrusted to our care–when we think of our responsibilities to care for these as your good servants, we are humbled. Send your Spirit that we may be discerning stewards, “for such a time as this.” Forgive us for our failures to understand what we should be doing. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Closing Hymn “Let All Creation Bless the Lord“

____________________
(Painting by Alrent de Gelder (1645-1727), “Esther and Mordechai Writing the First Purim Missive,” Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires.)

Thursday evening, August 23, I had the privilege of listening to Dordt’s Professor Schaap give a rehearsal of a multimedia presentation, “What about a Bicentennial?” [Of the Christian Reformed Church Denomination.]

He got me thinking. . . How will the issues he discussed impinge on Dordt College and in particular, the engineering department where I find fulfilling work? Dordt’s May 2007 graduates were our 25th graduating class. Will there be a 50th class of engineering students graduating from Dordt College?

I for one, appreciated what he had to say, but it’s impossible to summarize Professor Schaap’s multimedia presentation here in a paragraph or so. You can read a draft of his presentation on his homepage. If you get a chance to hear his multimedia presentation at the Christian Reformed Church’s 150th Anniversary Conference, that would be even better. (Friday, September 14, 8:00 - 9:30 PM at Calvin College’s Prince Conference Center. Complete conference schedule here.)

So will there be a 50th class of engineering graduates from Dordt College? I’ve concluded that “it depends.”

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat–
for while they sleep he provides for those he loves.
(Psalm 127: 1-2)

May we be found faithful.