As an NJIT student in the BME department, I personally believe this is a proper investment. Ceteris paribus, what separates two engineers are their interpersonal skills. However, a key assumption is that both individuals have a solid foundation in their respective fields. Without that technical foundation, interpersonal skills are not as impactful. We are currently building that foundation which we will rely on throughout our careers. Once we have done that, we can layer on and incorporate interpersonal skills.

There are other engineering programs that better prepare the student for the given coursework, however, students should also take the initiative to work on their interpersonal skills. Given the nature of the business, students should still invest in school mainly because it is an essential requirement when applying for a job. The system (curricula) should be revamped to better reflect what's essential in the workforce today. However as I stated before, the student should also take the initiative to find resources that will better prepare them. Technical skills are useful and critical. Personally speaking, before landing a full-time position as an engineer, I worked retail for three years. There I was pushed out of my comfort zone and forced to interact with strangers on a daily basis. This by chance increased my interpersonal skills. The skills can come either by chance or by actively searching but both interpersonal and technical are needed to strive.

I think there is the assumption that engineers will be well equipped enough in their jobs that they can learn and evolve throughout the entire process. Interpersonal skills are something that are necessary in every job and for some people, these skills are harder to develop than technical skills or knowledge. So if you come out of college with a solid technical foundation and outstanding interpersonal skills, through training and research you can bridge any gaps found in your knowledge while being able to function properly at your station. While technical knowledge is usually expected to have a learning curve, interpersonal skills should be exemplified throughout.

I believe the ratio of interpersonal skills to technical skills should be 50:50 in the medical device industry. There are instances where you can talk yourself up but you can only do it for so long until your lack of technical skills catch up to you and prohibit you from advancing; this is also true vice versa. Though, it is easier said than done to achieve the 50:50 ratio. Some people are more inclined to be better at one type of skill than the other, but like hc255 mentioned, it is also up to the individual to take initiative to find resources to enhance the skills they are lacking in. This comes with experience for sure, but one should be willing to acquire these skills and not solely rely on technical or interpersonal skills to get by at work. I know that at my job, I definitely need to have strong interpersonal skills to relay information on the projects I'm working on with my team but if I do not have strong technical skills, I won't have much information to relay and therefore, I will be less motivated to build interpersonal relations with my team. So I do think that both skill sets are dependent on one another and can therefore be enhanced as a unit.

As much as I agree with everyone about the importance of technical skills, it's important to note that employers prefer to train people they bring into work so that they are able to deliver what's expected of them perfectly and meets the demand of the company.
Having a base technical background is important to pave a path into acquiring a position on the project team, but having strong soft skills eases your employers worry of having to deal with a difficult person making you a more suitable candidate for recruitment.

I agree with smk45 -- technical skills, for a student, are a bit more important than they are for the average professional. As a student, its hard to get your foot in the door because you need to show that you have technical skills for companies to hire you. We cannot just get hired via word-of-mouth or our previous experiences, as most of ours, including mine, are close to non-existent. Therefore, its important to realize that yes, technical skills become less important once you are in the industry itself, but beforehand, it is more important to gain those skills as a student.

In addition, a great way to build these skills would be stepping outside of one's comfort zone and engaging in people outside of our industry. Most of the connections we create even within the field are not based on engineering or medical devices, but rather, they are dependent on things that set us apart, such as having a common fraternity or home town.

I think the biggest issue here is what we determine as "Success". If by success we mean climbing the ladder to eventually becoming a high-ranking official in a company versus landing a good paying job and being able to convince management to create a new project to develop a new product or service you thought of. The skill sets, both technical and interpersonal, required for the two options presented do not necessarily overlap.

while you may land a job with interpersonal skills, if you lack the technical skills to do the job, your act will be exposed, and you may be sacked depending on the position.
To address the initial question, you chose BME to learn the technical skills of an engineer. You may choose a minor or major in communications that is intended on nurturing interpersonal and communication skills.

Also note that interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively communicate technical information ARE not the same, according to MTD a management training organization.

Also, interpersonal skills are learned more through experience as opposed to through a systematic mechanism described in a book. In that sense, it makes teaching it difficult. Taking on a job that requires interpersonal skills like a sales attendant may improve your interpersonal skill but that does not necessarily tie back to your ability to effectively communicate.
The degree is not a waste, but you are getting what you signed up for. If you learned mainly interpersonal skills in your four years, then you wouldn't know how to do what you are supposed to do.

It's not in the engineering world where you need to know how to convey your ideas, I believe it is something that every single person should know how to do. If you don't know how to talk to others or be able to say what is on your mind, it is every hard for you get anywhere in this world which is all technology dependents right now. It is a shame that college does not prepare us enough to be able to communicate with others especially in engineering terms. When we have an idea and not be able to present in a way for everyone to understand is a shame because our ideas will not be shared. I do think colleges should have a mandatory public speaking class where we have to be able to pitch out ideas to potential employees.

During my undergraduate studies, the majority of the BME courses within the B.S. program focused on group work and projects instead of the testing and individual work that Chemistry, Physics, or even Mechanical Engineering courses focused on. I believe this was due to the Department’s recognition of the importance of developing social skills necessary to work with others effectively on a team and to be able to communicate efficiently. One major requirement for the program was a senior level project to design a device in a group of four, with a professor acting as a client. Design options, budgeting, progress reports were discussed in weekly meetings throughout a 6 month development period. If feasible a prototype of the device should be built, and in our case it was. During this period, my group learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses in regards to effective communication with our client and within the group itself. Though I was fairly knowledgeable in terms of the technical aspects such as programming the devices control system, setting up testing procedures, and troubleshooting any problems that occurred, key members of my group were much better at interacting with the client. Due to their ability to showcase the potential of our device by presenting what we had currently accomplished, they were able to negotiate with the client to double our budget for the project, which was essential for the completion of the device. During the final presentation of our device, ours was one of the few groups with a functioning prototype. This would most likely not have been the case without proper communication with the client that reassured them of the projects viability and allowed us to receive the larger budget that we needed.

I believe that it is the schools responsibility to teach the technical aspects of the field. I think it is on the student to learn the outside business and social skills needed to succeed in business. Personally, I believe the campus offers a multitude of venues to practice your interpersonal skills. I became a retreat counselor for Albert Dorman Honors College and was able to work on my skills talking to fellow students and to the faculty. The opportunity to speak with other people both above and below me gave a great opportunity. I think it falls on the students to advance their interpersonal skills in their own time and allow the school to teach the technical aspects. I believe that’s why sometimes the 4.0 students don’t make great employees if they don’t spend time also studying the interpersonal aspects.

I agree with you that based on the course and the article you posted the ratio of interpersonal skills vs technical knowledge is almost 3:1. But, this is the case here as we enrolled in an engineering degree. So, of course, the program will focus on more technical knowledge and it is also required to have management courses to graduate. there are other programs that focus on business and management only. you have to improve your interpersonal experience. And that's why we start to see a lot of people Study MPA after they finish there technical engineering degree to have the balance or to meet that expected percentage.

I think that a balance of the two skills is needed and agree with 85:15 ratio of interpersonal skills to technical skills. I think its important for biomedical engineering students to focus on technical skill rather than interpersonal skills for an undergraduate degree. The reason is because biomedical engineering is such a large field it is difficult to provide enough of a foundation for an undergraduate degree program to be able to devote a large focus to interpersonal skills. Once a student has completed their education and move to working in industry they will have a lot of experiences to gain interpersonal skill.

While it's reasonable that technical skills are essential, client experience wavers when employees do not have the interpersonal abilities expected to successfully pass on data to clients. Are interpersonal skills more essential than technical abilities? Yes, I believe so. Organizations as often as possible spend an ample amount of time and resources into technical skills training, and disregard the more essential soft skills training. Technical ability rapidly loses esteem when the employee can't feel for a client's situation, can't analyze the center issue in a convenient way, or are incapable for enough passing on data without utilizing technical language.

Through getting my bachelors degree at NJIT, I felt that my interpersonal skills have improved tremendously. Different experiences that improved my interpersonal skills included getting involved with clubs and organizations, being an the executive board of clubs and organizations, learning to work in teams in labs and engineering projects, learning to work with people who you may not get along with, figuring out how to get the most out of a class with a professor that may not fit your teaching style, figuring out how to keep composure when stressed out, overall figuring out how to communicate with the diverse student population, etc.

Studying at a university gives students the opportunity to tremendously improve their interpersonal skills and it is up to the student to take the initiative to take advantage of this. If all a student is doing is memorizing lecture material and taking exams, this technical information can be learned online without university. I think companies expect that your time at university helped you gain interpersonal skills which is why they ask so many interpersonal questions and show interest in your clubs, organizations, and group projects.