Conference Session

Building Blocks for Public Policy in Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alison Tramba, University of Virginia; Edmund Russell, University of Virginia; P. Paxton Marshall, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

the bulk ofthe curriculum. ABET addressed this danger with a capstone-design requirement that combineseconomic, social, environmental, and other considerations realistically.15 If students are toexperience engineering in context, that context must be integrated into the overall experience,not offered as a series of separate issues.Understanding that policy and technology constantly influence and constrain one anotherbecomes significant in preparing engineering students for the conflicting problems andopportunities within our society. The immediate challenge lies in finding projects in which theoutcome heavily depends on both engineering development and attention to policy regulations.As a current and significant application, building energy

Conference Session

Topical Public Policy Issues

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Richard Devon, Pennsylvania State University; Elizabeth Kisenwether, Pennsylvania State University; Richard Schuhmann, Pennsylvania State University; Robert Pangborn, Pennsylvania State University; Kim Barron, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

penetration in the workplace of our graduates. In a biennialsurvey of recent engineering graduates from Penn State reported below, we have found distinctlymodest levels of importance in the respondents’ work assigned to “Importance of Working on anInternational Project.” Although this importance rating has been creeping up since the firstsurvey of 1993 graduates, it is still below a 3 on a 5 point scale. Conversely, the respondentsrated study abroad experiences highly (3.5 to 4.5) even if they did not have one, and most didnot. So those surveyed have very positive attitudes towards engagement with the rest of theworld, but they are not yet rating its significance to their work very highly. Both these findingswould seem to challenge the view that our