The Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering has announced a $20 million pledge from the Gordon Foundation in Peabody, Massachusetts, to launch a program designed to prepare students to be leaders in the engineering field.

The gift, the largest the school has ever received for curriculum development, will establish the Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program, which aims to be a national model for the development of technical leaders. The program will comprise three main initiatives: enhancements to MIT's core educational program to include a focus on product development and project engineering; an industry mentoring and practice program for students; and an active program to disseminate best practices.

The program's educational component will focus on product development and project engineering, including project-based freshman-year subjects in engineering, a sophomore-year introduction to engineering practice, and a number of workshops, internships, and design-implement labs open to all undergraduate engineers. All will emphasize the skills needed to create new products and systems, such as defining needs, inventing solutions as well as designing, manufacturing, and testing. Each year, twenty to thirty students will be named Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Fellows and will participate in an industry mentoring and practice program. In addition, the program will be expected to share resulting best practices with other universities.

Gordon, an MIT alumnus known for pioneering analog-to-digital conversion and medical instrumentation, said he believes the United States needs to reinforce product-engineering education and MIT has an obligation to lead that effort. "Engineering leadership, as reflected by great new inventions, includes not only building on and combining existing elements, but also conceiving new elements and systems," he said. "I hope this program will provide additional opportunities for students to develop the practical skills required of 'real' engineers and foster an attitude of appreciation in them for the demands of engineering leadership."