Conference Session

Global Engineering in an Interconnected World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed Khan, Kansas State University-Salina; Beverlee Kissick, Kansas State University-Salina

Tagged Divisions

International

technologists. They are emphasizing the need for soft skills for engineers andtechnologists, and a more systems approach for the technician (as an example they wouldlike an electronic technician education where components are de-emphasized in favor ofa systems approach8).No one can disagree with the importance of soft skills to engineers and technologists in aglobal economy; however, the approach to technician training needs to be studied morecarefully3-5, 8, 9. A truly successful global technological strategy will require us to movefrom having two major partners, to many major partners in technology2. Indeed, the more Page 13.249.2successful we become

Conference Session

Engineering Education in the Mid-East / Asia

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rajeswari Sundararajan, College of Technology - Purdue University; Daniel Dangelo, Intel; kishore N.K., IIT Karagpur; Haritha Mogilisetti, Intel; Sundhasarath Somasundaram, Valliammai College of Engineering; umadevi S., highways; Robert Nowlin, retired

Tagged Divisions

International

grasping of the young, well-educated, andflexible engineering students of both genders. Since “business as usual” doesn’t work anymore,the curricula are kept current and up-to-date. Topics such as mechatronics, bioinformatics arecovered to meet the competition and challenges posed by outsourcing and globalization. Theimportance of soft skills, such as project management skills, IT, and good communication skillsin addition to the basic sciences, engineering sciences and in-depth skills in a specificengineering discipline has been realized and implemented in the curricula. In this paper, thecontemporary curricula in EE at Indian Universities will be investigated and compared to pre-outsourcing curricula. The merits of these curricula and areas for

Conference Session

Collaborative & New Efforts in Engineering Education

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fanyu Zeng, Indiana Wesleyan University

Tagged Divisions

International

in any type of businessenvironment. A collaboratively improved curriculum includes a great deal of curriculumenhancements with focuses on following three themes: • Soft Skills: Research outcomes indicate that fundamental technical skills and professional skills are both equally important and both need to be balanced although developing fundamental technical skills is still the core of the existing curriculum. Additional training on soft skill, such as project management and communication, enhances fundamental technical skill development. • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills: Students are trained to be able to obtain any resources available and reinforce their progress in problem solution

Conference Session

Preparing Engineers for the Global Workplace

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Vijay Renganathan, Institute of International Education; Lester Gerhardt, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Peggy Blumenthal, Institute of International Education; Allen Greenwood, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

International

available to engineering students whoseek international experience.The authors bring diverse perspectives from within the American academicmarketplace. One has spearheaded international education activities at RensselaerPolytechnic Institute, a leading US engineering university, and serves as the foundingChair of Global E3, in addition to being an ASEE Fellow. The other two are based atthe Institute of International Education, an NGO devoted to promoting andadministering international educational exchanges. The paper will discuss vehicles toenhance the “soft skills” increasingly demanded by industry, promote more studyabroad by US engineering students, and train a globally effective engineeringworkforce for the 21st century. We will present

Conference Session

Case Studies & Engineering Education Around the Globe

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adnan Zahed; Abdullah Bafail; Reda Abdulaal; Ali Al-Bahi

Tagged Divisions

International

course material to suit the College learning environment. Both courses adoptedactive/cooperative learning approach as an efficient way to address the requirements of ABETEC2000. The careful design of an active/ cooperative learning course ensures that students willacquire technical as well as non-technical or soft skills specified in the famous eleven 3a-3koutcomes. Felder et al3 discuss the instructional paradigms of cooperative learning and problem-based learning and estimate that each of them has the potential to address all eleven Criterion 3 Page 13.996.2outcomes effectively.Participation of the authors in preparing these two courses as well

Conference Session

Preparing Engineers for the Global Workplace

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Annette Casey, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Department of Automotive Engineering,; Emilia Bratschitsch, Joanneum Univeristy of Applied Sciences; Adrian Millward-Sadler, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences

Tagged Divisions

International

home or abroad), and one major project inthe 6th semester. To round off the program, business and management subjects (including bothhard and soft skills) and English as a second language should be included. The result was achallenging engineering curriculum, designed to produce graduates with a high degree ofemployability and thus satisfy the market’s need for highly-qualified engineering personnel.The response from industry was very good from the start, with the majority of graduates makinga seamless transition into engineering positions in internationally renowned companies, many ofthem based in Austria. This confirmed that the ‘recipe’ itself was a good one, and that theprogram was succeeding in what it had set out to do. However, like all

Conference Session

Engineering Accreditation Around the World

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Wolfe, Engineers Canada; Phil Alexander, University of Windsor

Tagged Divisions

International

the criteria governing the accreditation processes and procedures. TheEngineers Canada Board of Directors on behalf of the constituent members approves thesecriteria. The criteria are both quantitative and qualitative, and place emphasis on curriculumcontent and the quality of the students, academic staff, support staff and educational facilities.CEAB also uses these same criteria to conduct substantial equivalency evaluations ofengineering programs outside Canada. The criteria have evolved over the years to reflectaddressing such issues as technological advances and the growth of the engineering team in theworkplace. Over the past decade the CEAB has increased the requirements for complementarystudies (soft skills) and moved from a