How do you change the world? Tinker with it.

It was with some excitement that I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal stating that “tinkering is making a comeback.” That piece was followed a few days later by a similar one from National Public Radio. A bit closer to home, there have been over 130,000 downloads this year for the SolidWorks Student Design Kit. And here’s an interesting fact–the number of high school students downloading the SDK, an early indicator of trends, is greater in volume than graduate school students.

Here's a real-world example. Recent MIT graduate Greg Schroll is taking tinkering to new heights, inventing a spherical robot that can do the unthinkable – roll uphill and over steps. If you’re a reader of Popular Mechanics, you may recall that Greg was recognized as one of the 10 Most Brilliant Innovators of 2009.”

These days it may be cooler to have a sub-$500 milling machine in your dorm room than that old electric guitar. So, why the renewed interest in engineering? What I hear from the schools is that today’s students want to change the world for the better–be it alternate forms of energy or new means of transportation. And they know that today’s problems won’t be solved by the politicians; rather, they will be solved by the engineer–now affectionately tagged as “the tinkerer.” 

If you're a student or a teacher, I'd love to hear what you think.