National economic policy and breakthroughs in information and communication technology have accelerated the rate of globalization, which is also changing the landscape of engineering, science, and technology; nowadays, to stay competitive, companies must exploit resources and opportunities of both markets: domestic and global

Globalization, advancing technology, shortening product life cycle, and job outsourcing have created two opposing poles within contemporary engineering profession: envied and endangered. Engineers must collaborate and compete with counterparts thousands of mile away, and they must learn, learn faster, learn how to learn, and learn how to learn together.