Technological forecasting and planning exercises in engineering curricula

To sensitize graduate students in engineering to the multidisciplinary nature of decision making in contemporary situations, the elements of technological forecasting have been used as the basis for a graduate course. The principal objective is to use the technological forecasting approach in a structured problem resolution sequence, one of which is discussed here. Faced with a hypothetical problem of diversification in a medium-sized, high-technology organization, the student group employed objective trees, cross-impact matrices and structured interviews (Delphi rounds) in order to define quantitatively the nature and scope of opportunities open within the framework of economic, societal, political, and technological environments pertaining to their situation. Delphi-style debates, using a Consensor, were used to resolve group or individual conflicts. The exercise is intended to expedite adaptation of graduate engineers to the environment (industrial, social, etc.) within which they will be expected to perform as useful decision makers.