Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ganapathy Subramanian Natarajan, Texas Tech University; Chinweike I Eseonu, Texas Tech University; David A. Wyrick PE, PEM, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) face different barriers to implement sustainablepractices. Some of the major barriers were consolidated by Natarajan & Wyrick (2011)6. The Page 25.579.3major barriers were finance, lack of expertise, lack of information, and company culture.Similarly there were factors that motivated firms towards better environmental practices. Themajor motivators were legislation, owner(s) perspective, customer demands, and internal drive.SMEs struggle with understanding environmental sustainability due to the lack of people withsustainability education in their organization. In addition an owner or a group of owners

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David O. Kazmer, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Katie Bardaro, PayScale, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

semi-log function using the logarithm of earnings as the dependentvariable. Mincer used two forms of the earning function, parabolic and Gompertz. The grossannual earnings Es,t for a worker with s years of schooling and t years of experience is expressedwith parabolic dependence as: (1)where rs and rp are the rates of return on schooling and post-school investments, k0 is the ratio ofinvestment to gross earnings at the start of work experience, and T is the positive net investmentperiod (career work span). The Gompertz earning function incorporates a sigmoidal transferfunction to express the decline in value of up-front investment in education

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Cruz, Great Minds in STEM

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

. C2010BR-02. Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau. 10 U.S. Department of Education. (2011). Postsecondary Awards in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, by State: 2001 and 2009. NCES 2011-226. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Education. 11 Baum, S., J. Ma, and K. Payea. (2010). Education Pays 2010: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society. New York: The College Board Advocacy and Policy Center. 12 National Research Council. (2011). Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 13 National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. (2008). Confronting the “New” American

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mike Murphy, Dublin Institute of Technology; Michael J. Dyrenfurth, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

in industry, while Pavitt (1998) describes such research as “augmenting the capacity of business to solve complex problems.” See N. Rosenberg, and R. R. Nelson, “American universities and technical advance in industry,” Research   Policy,   23:323-348, 1994. See also K. Pavitt, “The Social Shaping of the National Science Base,” Research  Policy,  27:793-805, 1998. 34Y. S. Lee, “The Sustainability of University-Industry Research Collaboration,” Journal   of   Technology   Transfer, 25(2), 2000. 35Bronwyn Hall, “University-Industry Research Partnerships in the United States,” Kansai Symposium Paper, February 2004. 36Some analysts point out, however, that not all universities are structured

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Mendoza-Garcia, Purdue University and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Ida B. Ngambeki, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Lamis J. Behbehani, Purdue University; Demetra Evangelou, Purdue University, West Lafayette; P. Suresh C. Rao, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

, procurement, and/or regulation thatthe government provides”. Myers 20 includes in the definition “decisions”, “commitments” and“actions”. In addition, it includes not only the government but also the interpretation of the Page 25.383.4government’s positions of authority interpreted by “various stakeholders” 20 . Myers also addsthat a public policy “affect[s] the daily lives of the government citizens” 20, “our lives including,but not limited to, federal, state and local governments. Public universities, its utilities, andNGOs may also be included.”14.History and role of engineers in Public PolicyIt is also helpful for engineering students

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy R.B. Taylor P.E., University of Kentucky; Johne' M. Parker, University of Kentucky

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

have identified a gap in the type of information that Congressreceives on science and technology (S&T) matters and recognize the importance of includingthose with technical expertise in the conversations surrounding science and technology policy.Policymakers have found that a lack of information is not the problem; rather, the difficulty mostlegislative branch decision-makers have in fully understanding the large amounts of informationand advice received on a daily basis and appropriately assessing the validity, credibility andusefulness of that information. The follow policy maker quotes illustrate this point: "If we want good public policy, it has to be made by those who understand the issues ... sadly, few elected officials have