Posts Tagged ‘engineering education’
Posted by John Hunter on June 9th, 2008 | No Comments »
Speaker urges revolution in engineering education
“America faces the very real prospect of losing its engineering competence in an era in which technological innovation is the key to economic competitiveness, national security and social well-being,” said Duderstadt, who is president emeritus of the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of science and engineering.
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In an address titled �Engineering for a Changing World,� Duderstadt pointed to warning signs of daunting challenges for engineering.
He cited the off-shoring of engineering jobs, inadequate investment in long-term engineering research, inadequate innovation in engineering education and declining interest among students in careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
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Even more, it must expose engineering students to varied aspects of a well-rounded liberal arts education. More education in the humanities and social sciences is necessary to produce young engineers with a deeper comprehension of the cultural and historical forces within which scientific and technological advances have emerged.
Such an expanded educational horizon will provide students with the ability to see their engineering pursuits as part of a larger picture of the sociological, economic, political and environmental dynamics that are shaping the 21st century.
Giving students an understanding of the impact of science, engineering and technology on shaping the quality of life in the world will �infuse them with a new spirit of adventure� for engineering research and practice, he said.
Duderstadt said the nation�s universities must be committed to �creating a new breed of engineer that is better able to respond to the incredible pace of intellectual change� and to thrive in the modern global knowledge-based economy.
For the United States to maintain an edge in engineering innovation, it�s also critical to �elevate the status of the engineering profession,� he said. That will require engineers to take on more visible roles in influencing public policy through leadership in government and business.
Related: Engineering for a Changing World – NSB Report on Improving Engineering Education – Engineering Education Study Debate – Changing the Face of Engineering Education – Innovation Through Engineering Education – Science and Engineering in Global Economics
Filed under Education | Tags: engineering education, making a difference, Society, The Economy
Posted by John Hunter on May 28th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Proposal calls for raising tuition in UW-Madison College of Engineering
The proposal, which will go before the UW Board of Regents next week, would eventually raise tuition by $1,400 per year in the College of Engineering. The money would go toward hiring more faculty and improving academic programs.
The School of Business was the first undergraduate school at UW-Madison to bump tuition higher, a practice known as differential tuition, when it required students to pay $500 more per semester this past school year.
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An engineering student group, the Polygon Engineering Student Council, voted last year to approve the measure.
The Polygon Engineering Student Council web site includes some documents discussing the issue.
In the other direction, Sen. Max Baucus has proposed: “free college tuition for math and science majors as part of a $25 billion education incentives package”
Related: Earn More, Pay More Tuition – Paying by the Program – Certain Degrees Now Cost More at Public Universities – High pay for engineering graduates FSU-PC receives grant from NSF
Filed under Education | Tags: engineering education
Posted by John Hunter on May 9th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Reinstated UW Petroleum Engineering Program to Graduate First Students
Just two years after the University of Wyoming reinstated an undergraduate degree program in petroleum engineering, 12 students will receive bachelor of science degrees in the discipline. Commencement is scheduled May 10.
“That (reinstating the B.S. degree) was a good decision,” says H. Gordon Harris, who heads the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “All of the graduating students have been offered positions in the oil and gas industry.”
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“We (UW students) have opportunities to learn about all phases of drilling and production,” he says, adding that he really appreciated learning from Jack Evers, a UW professor who came out of retirement to teach in the program. Brinkerhoff has accepted a position with EOG Resources in Vernal, Utah, and will start work for the company later this month.
Brian Towler, who was the department head when the degree was reinstated, says about 10 students in the petroleum engineering program are from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, where they earned two-year associates degrees and then came to UW to complete their four-year degrees. He says the university has had a long history recruiting Canadian students to finish their degrees at UW.
The demand is enormous’ in energy and mining
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under Education, The Economy, Work | Tags: career, engineering education, petroleum engineering
Posted by John Hunter on April 17th, 2008 | No Comments »
K-12 Engineering Education
This “Engineering the Future” class is one of several efforts across the country to introduce engineering to elementary- and secondary-school pupils. The programs, which are growing in number and in some cases being established on a statewide basis, come in response to countless studies over the years that show if students encounter engineering early on in school, they are more likely to choose it as a career.
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While 37 states include some form of engineering or technology education in their curriculum standards, only Massachusetts has designed a statewide assessment in technology/engineering similar to exams now administered in biology, chemistry and introductory physics.
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Early returns suggest that K-12 engineering programs like those offered by the Museum of Science seem to be having the desired effect of boosting interest in engineering careers. Take the results from Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit group that has developed an engineering curriculum for more than 1,700 middle and high schools in 46 states and the District of Columbia. A survey of 3,700 students in the program in 20 states found that 80 percent intend to enroll in college (10 percent higher than the national average). And 60 percent of them plan to study engineering, technology, math or science (about double the national average).
Indeed, an analysis of 100 college transcripts from Project Lead the Way participants who graduated from high school in 2005 or before showed that about 75 are studying engineering or technology. Moreover, they averaged a B or better in calculus, physics and chemistry.
Additional resources on k-12 engineering education: ASEE EngineeringK12 Center – Project Lead The Way – Engineering is Elementary – Education Resources for Science and Engineering – TeachEngineering – podcast by Ioannis Miaoulis, President and Director of the Museum of Science
Filed under Education | Tags: engineering education, k-12
Posted by John Hunter on February 29th, 2008 | No Comments »
Engineering school’s growth targets societal needs
The primary role of engineering as a discipline is to use scientific knowledge to do useful things for society. So in academia, engineering serves as a bridge between the natural sciences on one hand and the humanities and the social sciences on the other. Engineers are, of course, involved very closely with natural scientists in seeking new scientific knowledge. But, engineers also work closely with humanists and social scientists in examining the implications of technology. At a liberal arts university, engineering plays a central role not only in research but also in teaching. It is our responsibility as engineering educators to make sure that all of our students, whether they are majoring in engineering or not, are technologically literate.
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The School of Engineering already has significant research programs related to human health, from the development of nanoparticles for drug delivery to innovative approaches for treating diabetes. But we have even bolder ambitions. As President Shirley Tilghman has often noted, biology is experiencing a revolutionary shift, one that calls for multidisciplinary collaboration. At the vanguard of this shift are unrivaled researchers at Princeton in the Department of Molecular Biology, the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. While we have substantial collaborations now with our colleagues in these life sciences, by deepening, expanding and leveraging these collaborations the School of Engineering can become a world-class center for biological engineering.
Filed under Education, Society, The Economy, The National Interest | Tags: engineering education, making a difference, Society
Posted by John Hunter on February 16th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
How to reengineer an engineering major at a women’s college:
The first women’s college to offer an engineering degree, Smith is forging new paths in a field that’s eager to swell its ranks in the United States. Women receive only 20 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering, according to a new report by the National Science Board (NSB). Like a handful of other liberal arts colleges, Smith is producing graduates who’ve had a different type of engineering education � one that goes beyond technical training to focus on a broader context for finding solutions to humanity’s problems; one that emphasizes ethics and communication; one so flexible that about half the students study abroad, which is rare, despite the multinational nature of many engineering jobs.
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Smith’s program boasts a 90 percent retention rate and high participation of underrepresented minorities. Ms. Moriarty hopes to find out which elements of the experience at Smith most contribute to students’ success. Female role models play a part (6 out of 10 engineering faculty here are women), but she says other factors are likely to be more important: “I think the methods being used here could probably translate very easily to other institutions that aren’t all women,” she says.
Ellis has done much to shape those methods. He draws on his experience teaching high school physics to bring the fun factor into his classes, for one. He has students use motion-graphing sensors to gain a deeper understanding of functions and derivatives, key building blocks in calculus.
ASEE’s Prism magazine had a cover article on the Smith’s engineering education efforts in 2005.
Related: Why Won’t She Listen – Re-engineering Engineering
Filed under Education | Tags: Diversity, engineering education, women
Posted by John Hunter on December 14th, 2007 | 3 Comments »
James J. Duderstadt, President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering, The University of Michigan provides an extensive report on the state of engineering in the USA. The report focusing on engineering education and the role of engineering in the economy and society. Engineering for a Changing World – A Roadmap to the Future of Engineering Practice, Research, and Education. Recommended actions include:
- Engineering professional and disciplinary societies, working with engineering leadership groups such as the National Academy of Engineering, ABET, the American Association of Engineering Societies, and the American Society for Engineering Education, should strive to create a guild-like culture in the engineering profession, similar to those characterizing other learned professions such as medicine and law that aim to shape rather than simply react to market pressures.
- The federal government, in close collaboration with industry and higher education, should launch a large number of Discovery Innovation Institutes at American universities…
- Undergraduate engineering should be reconfigured as an academic discipline, similar to other liberal arts disciplines in the sciences, arts, and humanities…
- In a world characterized by rapidly accelerating technologies and increasing complexity, it is essential that the engineering profession adopt a structured approach to lifelong learning for practicing engineers similar to those in medicine and law…
Related: The Future is Engineering – Science, Engineering and the Future of the American Economy – MIT task force report on the Undergraduate Educational Commons – Harvard Elevates Engineering Profile - Imperial outlines vision for new era in engineering education – Geeks and Chiefs: Engineering Education at MIT – Leah Jamieson on the Future of Engineering Education – Global Engineering Excellence Study – Educating the Engineer of 2020
Filed under Education, Society, The Economy, The National Interest | Tags: career, engineering education, engineers, Society, The Economy, The National Interest
Posted by John Hunter on December 6th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Project Lead The Way is a great effort to create partnerships with primary and secondary schools, universities, business and industry to prepare more students to be successful in science, engineering, and engineering technology. Universities with contacts include: Arizona State University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota, University of South Carolina, West Virginia University. They also have a list of state contacts, for every state.
PLTW’s curriculum makes math and science relevant for students. By engaging in hands-on, real-world projects, students understand how the skills they are learning in the classroom can be applied in everyday life. The High School Program is a four year sequence of courses which, when combined with traditional mathematics and science courses in high school, introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering prior to entering college. However, those not intending to pursue further formal education will benefit greatly from the knowledge and logical thought processes that result from taking some or all of the courses provided in the curriculum.
Some articles discussing PLTW efforts around the country:
Filed under Education | Tags: Education, education programs, engineering education, k-12, university projects
Posted by John Hunter on October 28th, 2007 | No Comments »
On the very popular, Open Access News, Peter Suber, posted on ASEE’s launch of Advances in Engineering Education last month:
I commend the ASEE for this launch. Society publishers have much to gain from OA, and I’m always glad to see another one announce a launch or experiment. However, I’m concerned that the journal is so reticent about its access policies. For example, it doesn’t describe itself as OA. It doesn’t even use phrases like “free online access”. The statements in the inaugural issue from the journal editor and society director don’t discuss price or access. I call it OA only because all the articles in the inaugural issue are free online and nothing at the site mentions subscriptions.
Filed under Education | Tags: ASEE, engineering education, open access