The Future of engineering education in South Africa

Engineering is a field of practice that has ties with development, acquisition, and use of technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to have a grasp of design, development, invention, innovation and the application of materials, machinery, structures, systems, and processes for designed purposes. South Africa is the center of engineering education in Africa as a result of adequate infrastructures that are important for the offering of engineering education as a discipline. With various changes happening in the South African higher education landscape in particular and the nation in general especially within this era of the Fourth industrial revolution, the future of engineering education in South Africa is set to change. This paper is a theoretical analysis of the various concepts which might likely defined the future of engineering education in South Africa. Evidences from established literatures were used in lending support to the major arguments of the paper. With the general economic trend in Africa, environmental challenges, and the rapid development of technologies, the future of engineering education will be influenced. This paper argues that the future of engineering education will have in it three emerging areas which are automation, additive manufacturing, and industrial internet which will influence the discipline. The paper recommends that there is a need for the government to invest heavily in building the knowledge economy, intensify efforts on STEM education which has the ability to contribute to engineering education in South Africa and there is a need to incorporate into the curriculum leadership and management courses, critical thinking, change management, communication, and crisis management.