Conference Session

Examining the Synergy between Eng'g Mgmt & Sys Eng

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jonathan Weaver, University of Detroit Mercy; Michael Vinarcik, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

Motors, IBM, ITT, Polaroid, and Xerox. The United States Navy and the NationalScience Foundation also provided input.The MPD program is cohort-based and operates on a two-year cycle from initiation throughthesis completion. Students are immersed in the program through a two-week long “JanuaryExperience” that includes coursework and a design challenge (in recent years this has been aradio-controlled robotics competition). The lead author is a recent MPD graduate (working in Page 11.333.2industry) who has twice been invited to assist with the “January Experience” for subsequentcohorts; the secondary author teaches five classes in the MPD program and

Conference Session

Technology in Classrooms - Construction Engineering Perspective

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Zhili (Jerry) Gao; Russell Walters, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Construction

because data can be integrated from almostany source. ArcView simplifies complex analysis and data management tasks by allowing usersto visually model the task in a logical work flow through data integration and spatial analysisusing industry-standard programming languages5.The nature of construction – large amount of field data, changing of location, changing over time– best meets the data requirements of using GIS/GPS. With increasing of demands fromconstruction industry, the education of GIS/GPS for construction graduates is not adequate.Students must learn two major concepts: one is about GIS/GPS operations, and the other is aboutspatial data management. However, the focus of applications should be on enhancing students’background to meet

Conference Session

Defining Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering; David Ollis, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Technological Literacy Constituent Committee

formal pathwayis through technology education. With only about 30,000 teachers nationwide, however,and only one-third of states requiring students to take such courses by high school 12 ,technology education cannot at this time be considered a mainstream subject in U.S.education. Aspects of technological literacy, especially the element of design thinking,can be included in efforts aimed at introducing K-12 students to engineering. ProjectLead the Way (www.pltw.org) may be the largest and best known of these initiatives, butthere are many others that are having an impact. In post-secondary education,technological literacy has been the stated or implied goal of STS (science technologysociety) programs, and programs on the history and philosophy

Conference Session

Reforming the Industrial Engineering Curriculum

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ana Ferreras, University of Central Florida; Lesia Crumpton-Young, University of Central Florida; Sandra Furterer, University of Central Florida; Luis Rabelo, University of Central Florida; Kent Williams, University of Central Florida; Pamela McCauley-Bell, University of Central Florida; Edward Hampton, University of Central Florida

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

2006-2554: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CURRICULUM TO INSTILLENGINEERING LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT SKILLS INUNDERGRADUATE STUDENTSAna Ferreras, University of Central Florida Ana Ferreras is a Ph.D. student at the University of Central Florida in the department of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems. She holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Central Florida. Ana holds a 6-Sigma Black Belt certification from the Harrington Group, and she has worked as a Radio Frequency Design Engineer for almost two years. Her research focuses on Engineering Management, Quality

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

S. Manian Ramkumar, Rochester Institute of Technology; Scott Anson, Rochester Institute of Technology; Charles Swain, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

newprocesses, using new materials and analyzing product/process reliability. They must performsophisticated life cycle testing and product reliability studies in a short amount of time in order tounderstand processes and the yield for new products. Page 11.1221.21 Corresponding Author – Phone:585-475-6081, Fax:585-475-7167, Email: smrmet@rit.edu2 Graduate Research AssistantTherefore, engineers must have multi-disciplinary skills that allow them to understand design forexcellence concepts. Industry needs new graduates who can contribute to design teams and allaspects of manufacturing, including assembly inspection, testing and reliability

Conference Session

FPD4 -- Real-World Case Studies & Projects

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ari Epstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Alberta Lipson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rafael Bras, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Kip Hodges, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

Undergraduate Teaching Fellowsor through Terrascope-administered research projects.In this paper, we describe the structure and evolution of the program over the past four years,outcomes for students, and lessons we have learned in designing and implementing the program.IntroductionThe MIT Earth System Initiative (ESI) is a multidepartmental organization that encourages andfacilitates research and education within MIT on environmental and Earth-system science and Page 11.1245.2engineering (see http://web.mit.edu/esi for details). It is directed jointly by representatives of theDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of

Conference Session

Successful Outcomes of Student Entrepreneurship

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Evans, University of Texas-Austin

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

funding organizations are also moving toward a greaterconsideration of the future impact of research activity forcing those in the academy to promotetheir work in a broader and more application driven light. The careers of engineers often grow toincorporate managerial and strategic responsibilities which are almost impossible without anability to consider business and legal issues and to communicate effectively to many differentaudiences. 1, 2, 3, 4 And, as Meier et al., suggest even those who remain squarely within atechnical arena, “are being asked to take responsibility for the overall system.”5 One subject thatneatly encompasses the concepts of innovation (implying new markets and new products),opportunities, creating networks, management

Conference Session

Industrial Collaboration & Applications in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William Stuart, Oregon Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

long learners’ and stay current with rapidly advancing technical changes and global competitive needs. • Provide graduates that are not only excellent problem solvers, but also exemplary communicators and top shelf team players.OIT works closely with Boeing to evolve a tailored program for advancing MMET students whoare full time Boeing employees and set up the times so that jobs are not impacted and classes are Page 11.1175.3provided right at the Boeing site. The course work also weaves in many of the specific needs ofBoeing such as ‘lean manufacturing’, advanced material understanding in composites andmethods of designing

Conference Session

Meeting ABET Requirements

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Freeman, Tufts University; Douglas Matson, Tufts University; Grant Sharpe, Tufts University; Chris Swan, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering

Tibetan villagers to ascertain what direction the programshould take to best support the target community. Students researched water quality problems inthe developing world and defined methods to test for pathogens and contaminants. Since it wasunclear, before the visit, what problems the community may be experiencing, the studentsdeveloped a strategy to test for basic watershed parameters for the assessment visit. Plans toinclude more advanced tests, such as arsenic, were to be accomplished in later visits. Studentsalso constructed two prototype solar cooking devices and tested them to compare to an analyticaltransient heat transfer model developed by the team. After validating the model, studentsconducted sensitivity analyses to develop a

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Beverly Perna, Tsongas Industrial History Center

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

the projects were performed in a rapid fire modeduring which approximately 100 student projects were presented during two hours of scheduledlecture time. The best five projects were installed at a museum exhibition six weeks after theproject completion and remained on display for viewing by 50,000 visitors in 2005. Anintroductory exhibit panel provided information about Rube Goldberg and the steps in theengineering design and product development process.3.2 Technology Exhibition, Second SL Project, Fall 2005The second SL project was motivated by the history of engineering technology, especially as itpertains to the history and future of local industry. In this project, the students were asked tobring relevant engineering technologies to life

Conference Session

Elementary School Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen High, Oklahoma State University; Caroline Beller, Oklahoma State University; Pamela Fry, Oklahoma State University; Adrienne Redmond, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

designed to guide the nation toward a scientifically literate society. Based Page 11.302.3on exemplary practice and research, the Standards describe a vision of the scientificallyliterate person and present criteria for science education that will allow that vision tobecome reality. Teachers must have theoretical and practical knowledge and abilitiesabout science, learning, and science teaching. General competencies for licensure andcertification in Oklahoma are also addressed. State competencies for licensure andcertification for elementary education also inform course content, as well as theOklahoma Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) and the

Conference Session

Collaborative & New Efforts in Engineering Education

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Roland Kempter, University of Utah; Cynthia Furse, University of Utah; Nick Safai, Salt Lake City College; Neil Cotter, University of Utah; Lee Brinton, Salt Lake Community College

Tagged Divisions

International

participated in the design of the first two-wayDVB-RCS compliant satellite communication system and initial studies towards the implementation of asatellite with packet-switching capabilities. In Fall 2002 he joined the University of Utah and received hisM. Eng in Spring 2005. Being a teaching and research assistant, he is currently working towards his PhDdegree and expects to graduate in Spring 2006 in the area of wireless CDMA networking. Mr. Kempter hasworked on projects for DaimlerChrysler, LIEBHERR Aerospace, the European Space Agency as well asSES ASTRA in the areas of catalytic converters, flight control systems and packet based satellitecommunications. He is the author of several papers in the area of CDMA packet networking, cognitiveradio

Conference Session

Leadership and Administration in ET

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Whitt, Purdue University; Rodney Handy, Purdue University; Margaret Ratcliff, Purdue University-Columbus/SE Indiana

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

a result an increasing number of US companies haveoutsourced jobs in an effort to achieve immediate cost reductions without having to incurthe expenses or liabilities that accompany capital investments.5 However in addition tothe outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, innovation is being outsourced as well. Boeing isco-developing software for navigation systems, landing gear, cockpit controls, and newaircraft designs. GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly are teaming with Asian biotech researchcompanies to reduce the cost of bringing new pharmaceutical products to market.6 EliLilly is able to perform research in China, using the Chinese company ChemExplorer, atapproximately a 40 savings to performing the same research domestically.7 Firm’sfollowing

Conference Session

Rethinking Aerospace Curricula and Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Narayanan Komerath, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

1970s lagged the best programs in India, for example, in theuse of computers in undergraduate education. At the same time, U.S. programs were well aheadin dropping requirements2,3 for hands-on skills such as Workshop and Drafting. Early computerexercises in the late 1980s involved programming. As ‘canned software’ such as ‘TKSOLVER’became popular, a debate arose about the value of having students spend time on programmingversus solving engineering problems. The practice of coding entire, standalone programsincluding graphics from a blank sheet of paper, went into decline. Mathematical and graphicaltools facilitated teaching computational techniques, flight control theory and computer-aideddesign. Addition of Space technology and design content

Conference Session

Promoting Scientific and Technological Literacy

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University; Susan Powers, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

decisions on a global scale. Scientific and technical literacy will empower students tobecome responsible citizens in the rapidly changing world in which we live, and will preparestudents for effective participation in the decisions and actions that take place in their homes,their communities, and their world.[7] Likewise, literacy within the environmental sciences willprepare students for interpreting and acting on issues related to energy and the environment.Project based learning has been suggested to present the best case for teaching and learningscience process skills and content.[8, 9] The technique has roots in the “learning by doing”approach to education promoted by John Dewey.[10] The curriculum is generally centered aroundthe assignment

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Dahm, Rowan University; Roberta Harvey, Rowan University; Brian Lefebvre, Rowan University; Heidi Newell, Rowan University; James Newell, Rowan University

collaborative learningprocess in general.The LCI has been used in the engineering program at Rowan University to enhance theperformance of student teams19. In Sophomore Clinic I, a multidisciplinary sophomore designand composition course that is taught collaboratively by faculty from engineering andcomposition and rhetoric, faculty used the results of the LCI to form teams with balancedcomponents of each learning pattern, based on research suggesting that successful learning inteam environments occurs if team members have complementary learning patterns.Our hypothesis was that this particular combination of avoidances and preferences leads tobarriers that specifically impact performance of student teams in the upper-level design courses,such as the

Conference Session

Global Engineering in an Interconnected World

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Rosentrater, USDA-ARS; Radha Balamuralikrishna, Northern Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

International

. Some of these include engineering and design,production and operations, research and development, quality management and improvement,information technology, marketing and sales, management, human resources, and evenworkplace safety and health. Thus, bio-based industries are very germane to engineering andtechnology disciplines. Bio-based operations require skill sets similar to traditionalmanufacturing settings, but also have a need for additional knowledge in biological sciences,which can vary according to the specific product(s) produced at a given facility (i.e., energy,fuels, chemical, or products). For example, equipment, processes, and unit operations must bedesigned; these systems must be optimized, modeled, and simulated; and

Conference Session

Materials Science and Engineering of 2020

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Vanasupa, California Polytechnic State University; Blair London, California Polytechnic State University; Katherine Chen, California Polytechnic State University; Richard Savage, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Materials

faculty to do a better job of integrating science, math and communication in the engineering curricula.17,18,19 In 1995, the National Research Council’s (NRC) Board on Engineering Education called upon all engineering colleges to provide more exposure to interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary aspects of teamwork, hands-on experience, creative design, and exposure to “real” engineering and industrial practices, identifying integration of key fundamental concepts in science and engineering as the number-one principle for new engineering curricula and culture.20 Ideally, entire curricula would comprehensively integrate these subjects. However, integrating these subject domains into engineering is most critical at the freshman level

Conference Session

Women Faculty Issues and NSF's ADVANCE program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jana Renner Martinez, University of Texas-El Paso; Evelyn Posey, University of Texas-El Paso

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Faculty Mentoring Program for Women (FMPW) for all tenure-track women and an Impact Seminar Series for men and women designed to increase facultyeffectiveness by developing new ways of integrating teaching, research, and service.The FMPW, which now includes 80 women, was begun in 2000, and folded into the ADVANCEinitiative in 2003. All new tenure track women are invited to participate in the program. Duringthe first years of the program, the women were paired with senior faculty members, mentors,from their college, but not from their department. Due to a shortage of qualified mentors, theprogram adopted a “group mentoring” model in 2004. Now, a group of women from the samecollege are paired with one or two mentors from their college. Participants

Conference Session

Advancing Manufacturing Education Through Outreach and Collaboration

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Val Hawks, Brigham Young University; Michael Miles, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Manufacturing

always been the source ofAmerica’s innovation and our standard of living.” [1] The crisis is the increasing penetration ofglobal competition on the economic output of the United States, now an issue to whichengineering education is paying serious attention. However, it is not a crisis of just technicalissues. What is needed with respect to global learning and experience is more than just technicalcompetence and expertise. Bill Wulf said “…engineering is now practiced in a global, holisticbusiness context, and engineers must design under constraints that reflect that context. In thefuture, understanding other cultures, speaking other languages, and communicating with peoplefrom marketing and finance will be just as fundamental to the practice of

Conference Session

International Case Studies, Collaborations and Interactions

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charlie Edmonson, University of Dayton; Donna Summers, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

International

affect decisions in the workplace - developing a working knowledge of teams, teamwork, negotiation and personnel management in a diverse work force.In today’s environment of global competitiveness, all four of these topics take on a world-wideperspective. Our graduates may work in the U.S. for a multi-national U.S. corporation or workin the U.S. for a multi-national foreign corporation or work with multi-national customers. Inmany organizations, a stint overseas is often expected, so our graduates may work in anothercountry for a multi-national U.S. corporation or work in another country for a multi-nationalforeign corporation. An introduction to cultural and business practices throughout the world isimportant for

Conference Session

The Senior Experience: Capstone and Beyond

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott Yost, University of Kentucky; Derek Lane, University of Kentucky; George Blandford, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

individual learning and group learning,these assessments show that team learning is quantifiable greater than individual learning.Introduction Over the past two decades much has been accomplished to reform engineering education.The adoption of Engineering Criteria 2000: Criteria for Accrediting Programs in Engineering inthe United States,1 required that engineering programs demonstrate that graduates are able tofunction on multidisciplinary teams.2,3,4 As a result, student teams in undergraduate engineeringcourses have become much more prevalent. Unfortunately, however, some of the strongerstudents continue to resist working in teams despite clear research findings that document that“teams outperform individuals acting alone or in larger

Conference Session

Evaluation and Assessment of IE Programs

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jane Fraser, Colorado State University-Pueblo; Alejandro Teran, ITAM (Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico)

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

Page 11.267.9graduate of our programs is employed in the US, that graduate will need a global outlook.We cannot allow students to graduate without exposure to international aspects ofengineering practice. One way we can achieve that exposure is through partnerships withnonUS institutions.Conclusions and future researchWhile we all often lament the lack of recognition for industrial engineering in the US,this review clearly shows the situation could be worse – and could be better. Perhaps thesituation is improving in the US. Price13 states that industrial engineering accounted for14% of all engineering jobs in the US in 2000, growing from only 8.9% in 1990.While we cannot support the statement with numbers, we found that the phrase“production

Conference Session

Women Faculty Issues and NSF's ADVANCE program

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine Pieronek, University of Notre Dame

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

program. But, if those particular undergraduateprograms have a poor record of retaining women, the graduate school’s admissions practicesprobably limit the pool of women who would be considered for admission and, in turn, likelylimit the number of women admitted. The educational institution should, therefore, adjust itsrecruitment processes to broaden the field from which it selects suitable candidates foradmission.Title IX also prohibits any inquiry into the marital or parental status of an applicant.19 A certainprofessor might prefer not to work with a female graduate student who is or might becomepregnant, for example, because of a real fear that her needs for time off to tend to her childrenmight adversely impact a tight research schedule

Conference Session

Program Delivery Methods and Real World Concepts

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leroy Cox, University of Missouri-Rolla; Susan Murray, University of Missouri-Rolla; David Spurlock, University of Missouri-Rolla (ENG)

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

video technology has become a widely used medium for education. A prominentimplementation of this technology, interactive distance learning, involves groups of students atlocal and remote sites connected by audio and video teleconferencing. This approach has madethe task of delivering vital undergraduate and graduate engineering courses to distributedaudiences much easier.As this approach has permeated more curricula, distance education instructors have increasinglyassigned projects that require distance learners to work together as an element of the final coursegrade. This trend presents an interesting opportunity for researchers to understand the nature ofinteractions among course participants involved in project teams.This paper presents the

Conference Session

International Case Studies, Collaborations and Interactions

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wenlung Li, National Taipei University of Technology; Jhy-Cherng Tsai, National Chung-Hsing University, TAIWAN; Wei-Chung Wang, National Tsing-Hua University, TAIWAN; Cheng-Kuo Sung, National Tsing-Hua University, TAIWAN; Jennie Wu, Ministry of Education, TAIWAN

Tagged Divisions

International

Education Advancements for Mechatronics Engineering, MOE, Taiwan, 2000.7. Yakimovicz, A.D., and Murphy, K.L, “Constructivism and collaboration on the Internet: Case study of a graduate class experience,” Computers & Education, V. 24, Issue 3, April 1995, Pages 203-209.8. Couturier, L.K., “The unspoken is being undone: The market's impact on higher education's public purpose,” New Directions for Higher Education, V. 2005, Issue 129, Spring 2005, pp. 85-100.9. Tuttas, J. and Wagner, B., “Distributed Online Laboratories”, in Aung, W. editor, Engineering Education and Research –2001: A Chronicle of Worldwide Innovations, iNEER and Begell House Pub., 2002, pp.117-125.10. Li, W., Tsai, J. J., Tseng, S.P., and Young, I. F., “Generation of New

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandra Courter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Joan Kwako, University of Wisconsin-Madison; John Wright, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Deanna Byrnes, Lawrence University; Thatcher Root, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Clif Conrad, University of Wisconsin-Madison

through the lens of“teaching-as-research.” We define “teaching-as-research” as “a deliberate, systematic,and reflective use of research methods to develop and implement teaching practices thatadvance the learning experiences and learning outcomes of students as well as teachers.”The graduate course is designed to promote the development of those skills and habits-of-mind, along with the knowledge base associated with high-quality teaching, learning, andassessment. Within the graduate course, students participate in a micro-course, aninnovative adaptation of the traditional micro-teaching experience. The uniquecomponents to our approach are both the teaching-as-research model and the authenticachievement model

Conference Session

Approaches to Emerging Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ron Madler, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott; Phillip Anz-Meador, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott; Karl Siebold, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott

Tagged Divisions

Aerospace

and their relationship with major courses taught, in one form or another, atany university or college supporting a space engineering or physics program. In Table 1.1 ourcourse level is indicated, as appropriate, by degree plan year, e.g. “3” indicates a Junior-levelclass.The intention of this paper is to stimulate the usage of problem solving techniques which canraise the awareness of space debris and give interesting, realistic examples for the classroom.Section 3 contains a non-exhaustive list of examples which illustrate that the field of space debrisis very complex and interdisciplinary requiring, as it does, an integrated understanding ofdynamics, mathematics and statistics, design best practices, the space environment, and evenspace

Conference Session

Achieving the Civil Engineering Body of Knowlegde

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ronald Welch, U.S. Military Academy; Allen Estes, U.S. Military Academy; Fred Meyer, U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

-Long Learning) and Outcome 14,(Business and Public Policy). The assessment for business and public policy was downgraded.The initial rating was based on averaging the assessment of business knowledge (sub-Level 1)and public policy awareness (almost Level 2). A new interpretation indicates that Level 1 abilityis needed in both areas. Future USMA curriculum revisions will require more emphasis onbusiness practices and issues.After the Curriculum committee recommended the use of 3 levels mentioned above, CAP3established the Competency Committee to study and recommend the best method of assessingthe outcomes. After much debate and research into alternative methods by the CompetencyCommittee, it was decided that the Curriculum Committee suggestion

Conference Session

Examining the Synergy between Eng'g Mgmt & Sys Eng

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wade Shaw, Florida Tech; Muzaffar Shaikh, Florida Tech; Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

), Space ApplicationsTechnology Outreach program (SATOP), Technology Research and Development Authority ofthe State of Florida (TRDA), the Alumni Entrepreneur Alliance, The Space Coast EDC and otherlocal organizations, have seen increasing attendance and have become an increasingly importantnetworking and discussion forum for local entrepreneurs, inventors, business service providers,investors, students and faculty.Two NCIIA grants, totaling about $40K for Florida Tech have been central to the rapid increasein entrepreneurial participation by undergraduates in the College of Engineering. One of thegrants funded entrepreneurial multi-university wireless senior design projects, while the othersupported a series of Electrical and Computer Engineering