ASEE’s Conference Connection: 2009 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Newsletter

Have you spotted the ASEE robotic car? It’s roaming the exhibit hall floor, providing information on the Global and K-12 Pavilions.

Monday’s HIGHLIGHTS:

Monday’s Main Plenary and keynote speeches by Gu Binglin, president of Tsinghua University, China, and Carl B. Mack, executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers and focused on the timely and important topics of international relations and diversity in engineering.

Keynote speech by Gu Binglin, president of Tsinghua University, China

Keynote speech by Carl B. Mack, executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers

At day’s end, attendees relaxed at the “Focus on Exhibits” Happy Hour sponsored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

ASEE Two-year College Model Design Competition

In the afternoon, college teams raced their student-made autonomous robots along a treacherous three-minute course in search of ping-pong balls. Monroe Community College’s (Rochester, NY) robot prevailed, with the greatest number of ping-pong balls successfully collected and deposited.

Tinker Ballz from Rochester, NY

What’s On Tomorrow:

Tuesday is Industry Day, with a day-long series of events planned by the Corporate Members Council, including sessions on K-12 education, diversity, and student feedback. The day’s highlight will be the Main Plenary II. At 4:00 p.m., work shifts to pleasure with the ASEE “Focus on Exhibits” Ice Cream Social in the Exhibit Hall, featuring sweet treats for all.

For the titles, times and locations of all workshops, visit the online session locator at: www.asee.org/osl. You can build an individual matrix or use a keyword search to find topics of interest.

ASEE Main Plenary II, 8:30 – 10:15 a.m.

“Engineering Education Innovation — A New Paradigm,” Sponsored by The MathWorks, Austin Convention Center, Ballrooms D & G.

With support from the National Science Foundation, more than 70 ASEE project volunteers have developed a series of action-oriented recommendations to better position U.S. engineering education and its graduates for the global economy. Keynote speakers Leah H. Jamieson, Purdue University, and Jack Lohmann, Georgia Institute of Technology, will present the recommendations, which build upon and respond to the many national and international reports on the future of engineering and engineering education, including ASEE’s Year of Dialogue.

To view a copy of the Phase 1 Report: “Creating a Culture for Scholarly and Systematic Innovation in Engineering Education: Ensuring U.S. engineering has the right people with the right talent for a global society,” please click below:

http://asee.org/about/board/committees/EEGE/upload/CCSSIEE_Phase1Report_June2009.pdf

Leah H. Jamieson

Jack R. Lohmann

Notable panels:

Sustainable Education and the Environment 7:00 – 8:15 a.m. Austin Convention Center, 12A. Moderator: Craig Somerton, Michigan State University. This session describes new and existing courses that incorporate alternative-energy and sustainable-energy concepts with environmental considerations.

Effecting Change in Higher Education 10:30 a.m. – Noon Austin Convention Center, 4B. Moderator: Priscilla Nelson, New Jersey Institute of Technology. This interactive panel will focus on changing the face of engineering higher education, with panelists describing an NSF-funded workshop designed to bring women deans, vice presidents, and provosts together to network, brainstorm, and focus on complex local, national, and global issues of engineering education.

Design Methodology. 12:30-2:00 p.m. Austin Convention Center, 7. Moderator: Marjan Eggermont, University of Calgary. What has fins like a whale, skin like a lizard, and eyes like a moth? This session examines the teaching of design and specific design methodologies.

Technical-Capacity Building & Exporting of Higher Education to Developing Countries 2:15 – 4:00 p.m. Austin Convention Center, ML 5. Moderator: Russel Jones, World Expertise LLC. This panel brings together educators and professionals who examine the experience and expertise needed by today’s engineers, whether educated in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, or Africa, and the challenges of tackling international projects that require both technical expertise and high-level people skills.

Other panels of interest:

Tree-huggers, Diggers, and Queers — Oh, my! 10:30 a.m. – Noon, Austin Convention Center, 19B; Carrying the Message: Creating a Culture for Engineering Education Innovation 10:30 a.m. – Noon Austin Convention Center, 6A; IBM Technical Session: Cloud Computing – Emerging Solutions and Technologies 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Austin Convention Center, 11B; Panel: What Funding Agencies Look For 4:30-6:00 p.m. Austin Convention Center, 9C.

View a complete listing of conference sessions of special interest for K-12 educators.

View sessions of interest for college and graduate students

Cross-disciplinary sessions:

Engineering College Statistics: Findings from the 2008 Survey 7:00 – 8:15 a.m. Austin Convention Center, 4A: ASEE’s Director of Data Research, Michael Gibbons, presents a national overview and longitudinal data trends from the 2008 survey of engineering colleges.

Engineering Courses for Non-engineers 10:30 a.m. – Noon, Austin Convention Center, 13A.

Integrating Math, Science, and Engineering 10:30 a.m.– Noon. Austin Convention Center, 3.

Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Laboratories 2:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m Austin Convention Center, 4A.

Events highlights: TUESDAY

ASEE BISTRO 9:00 a.m – 5:00 p.m. Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 4. Open during the Exhibit Hall’s hours of operation, the Bistro features breakfast, lunch, snacks, and beverages, available for purchase.

Ticketed lunches are being sponsored by Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Educational Research & Methods, and other divisions. Check for locations, times and ticket prices at: www.asee.org/osl.

The ASEE K-12 Pavilion, presented by Autodesk at the Exhibit Hall, is a new feature this year, showcasing the work of ASEE corporate partners in attracting and retaining the next generation of engineering students, and unveiling the new initiatives of ASEE’s K-12 Engineering Go For It platform.

“Focus on Exhibits” Ice Cream Social 4:00 – 4:30 p.m. Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 4. Sponsored by ASEE Headquarters.

Several festive awards banquets, dinners, and socials will be held by ASEE divisions, including Educational Research & Methods, Civil, Chemical, Engineering Design Graphics, and Engineering Libraries. Check for locations, times and ticket prices at: www.asee.org/osl.

Keep in Mind:

Registration continues Tuesday for attendees, exhibitors and presenters, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in the Austin Convention Center Exhibit Hall 4. Registration lines can be long, so please allow ample time before sessions begin.

ASEE conference staff members are on hand to help with your questions on the conference program, scheduling, and other non-registration issues, at the information kiosk, located near the registration desk, Exhibit Hall 4.

The Projects staff at the ASEE booth in the Exhibit Hall can provide the latest information on fellowships and scholarships administered by the Society. Learn about millions of dollars’ worth of programs for faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduates, and interns sponsored by the U.S. Navy, National Science Foundation and Department of Defense.

The Speaker Ready Room provides a dedicated quiet space for presenters to prepare their materials. Monday – Wednesday, 8:30 – 5 p.m. Austin Convention Center, ML-2. Internet not provided. Internet is provided in the lobby of the convention center.