The theoretical foundation of this paper comes from Bourdieu’s notion of the university as a social space not only for the education of people but as a place for the interrelation and tension of different professions. The sudden advent of modernization in Latin American Societies - specifically in Colombia - in the middle of 20th Century gave engineering a preeminent position, that is, a large symbolic capital. This paper argues that, considering the recent history of Industrial Engineering in Colombia, the turning point for Latin America to consider the need for infrastructure and engineering education for a “new urban society in growth” can be traced to the 1949 U.S. President Harry Truman’s ‘development speech’. It is also suggested that the education of our engineers has been imposed by the needs of the developed world. With the above picture in mind this paper attempts to examine the characteristics of industrial engineering education should have to meet the needs of Colombian culture.