Engineering education has been playing a very important role in the economic development of Taiwan. However, with the advancement of technology, the emergence of the global village, and the transformation of the industry, engineering education in Taiwan is facing an unprecedented difficult challenge. To meet the needs of the industry and to be up for fierce international competition, the development of accreditation of engineering education is inevitable. Accreditation of engineering programs enables us to train more excellent engineers who will be playing leading roles in the transformation of industrial development in the future. Moreover, the accreditation system will help to reform the quality of engineering education and promote internationalization, which allows us to be active members of the global village.
Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) has been promoting an accreditation system for engineering programs since 2003 as a way to help uplift the quality of engineering education. The Ministry of Education and the National Science Council have collectively designated IEET as the sole window for international contacts regarding the accreditation of engineering programs. That is, IEET is the primary organization responsible for communications with accreditation agencies in foreign countries.
The administration of accreditation for engineering programs will speed up the development of engineering education, improve student learning efficiency, and bridge the distance of the academe with the industry and with the international community. In the meantime, it will strengthen higher education in Taiwan and attract quality students from abroad. Although accreditation of engineering education is still in its early stages in Taiwan, its success has been recognized.
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