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A NEW MODEL FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION AT THE Ph.D. LEVEL

Kofi Nyamekye, Ph.D.

Nyamekye Research & Consulting Rolla, MO 65401 USA ////// Yildirim Omurtag, Ph.D., P.E.

Dean School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science Moon Township, PA 15108 USA

Abstract

This paper presents a new model for designing a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in engineering. The paper recognizes that changes in the global economy require a new approach for producing Ph.D. graduates in engineering. Today, some major U.S. companies are beginning to realize that they can get top-flight research scientists offshore to solve their research problems at substantially low costs. Compounding such problems is the lack of state budgets for funding new engineering programs in the emerging disciplines. Consequently, a critical need exists to address these critical issues facing the U.S. Ph.D. programs in engineering. The paper first gives an overview of the critical problems facing the U.S. engineering education, and then uses the design loop, as a generic approach to reflect the fact that when the societal need changes the Ph.D. program in engineering must adapt to it. An example of a newly established, innovative Ph.D. program in Engineering at Robert Morris University (RMU) in Pennsylvania that attempts to address some of these issues has been illustrated.

1.0 Introduction

In recent years, the U.S. has lost its manufacturing base to the emerging countries, such as China and other Asian-Pacific countries. For example, China has now become the “factory floor capital of the world.” The economic consequence of the loss of our manufacturing base is enormous. Today, U.S. engineering graduates must not only compete for the fewer engineering jobs in the U.S., but they must also compete for the same high-skill jobs with engineers from the low-wage countries. Why should a U.S. company pay an engineering graduate fresh from college an annual salary of $60,000 if it can pay an annual salary of $10,000 to an engineer with the same skills from China or India to do the same job?

“Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Nyamekye, K., & Omurtag, Y. (2005, June), A New Model For Engineering Education At The Phd Level Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--15151