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Session 3657, paper 1129

Integrating Real World Experience in Designing Operations Management Course

Jenny Wang-Chavez, Ratna Babu Chinnam, Hemalatha Sathyanarayanamurthy, Joe Nguyen

Greenfield Coalition of New Manufacturing Education / Wayne State University / DaimlerChrysler Corporation

Abstract

Intense competition in today’s marketplace is pressing companies to be more agile, lean, and responsive. Companies are working harder than ever to recruit graduates that not only have solid engineering knowledge, but are also abreast of best business practices, and possess the ability to rapidly diagnose and solve challenging problems. This requires engineering programs to produce graduates that are “ready to execute.” This paper will use the development of an Operations Management (OM) course as an example to demonstrate the efforts made by Greenfield Coalition (GC) to produce such graduates. This paper outlines the steps taken to design and develop an industry-oriented OM course for GC where students use their knowledge, skills, and learning experiences to address real-world problems. Details on how the learning activities engage students in the active problem-solving process will also be demonstrated.

Introduction

Intense competition in today’s global marketplace is pressing companies to aggressively acquire such competencies as product development agility, lean manufacturing, six sigma processes, and responsive supply chains. In response, among numerous other efforts, companies are working harder than ever to recruit engineering graduates that not only have a strong foundation in engineering knowledge, but also are fully abreast of best business practices and possess the ability to rapidly diagnose and solve challenging problems. While internship experiences used to bridge some of these gaps in the past, engineering programs are beginning to witness pressure to produce graduates that are “ready to execute” upon recruitment without having to go through a lot of orientation and training programs. To address this need in the Manufacturing Education segment, Greenfield Coalition for New Manufacturing Education, a multi-university-industry coalition housed at Focus: HOPE organization in Detroit, MI, has been working hard to produce such graduates, called a Renaissance Engineer.

Greenfield Coalition education programs focus on instilling real-world experience into the student pool by embracing “learning factory” techniques and e-learning technologies. The design and development of an Operations Management (OM) course reflect this set of beliefs and practice.

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Chinnam, R. B., & Nguyen, J., & Wang-Chavez, J., & Sathya, H. (2003, June), Integrating Real World Experience In The Design Of An Operations Management Course Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--11450