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A New Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Initiative

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Conference

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Honolulu, Hawaii

Publication Date

June 24, 2007

Start Date

June 24, 2007

End Date

June 27, 2007

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Tagged Division

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Page Count

11

Page Numbers

12.80.1 - 12.80.11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--2073

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/2073

Download Count

487

Paper Authors

biography

Fernando Tovia Philadelphia University

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Dr. Fernando Tovia is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Engineering Programs at Philadelphia University. He joined the faculty of the School of Engineering and Textiles in 2004. He earned a B.S. from the University of the Americas (Mexico) in 1981 and an M.S. from Oklahoma State Univ. in 1987 (both in industrial engineering) and a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2004. He spent 20 years working in production planning, strategic planning and as an executive in the textile industry in Mexico. His research interests include supply chain management, inventory management, service parts logistics, emergency logistics and engineering education. He is funded by the National Textile Center.

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biography

Muthu Govindaraj Philadelphia University

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Dr. Muthu Govindaraj is a Professor of engineering at Philadelphia University. He has graduate degrees in mechanical and textile engineering from India and a PhD from the Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic. Before joining Philadelphia University, Professor Govindaraj was an assistant professor at Cornell University. His research interests are in the areas of deformable material modeling and he is funded by the NSF, National Textile Center and the Laboratory for Engineered Human Protection at Philadelphia University. Web site URL: faculty.philau.edu/govindarajm

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biography

David Brookstein Philadelphia University

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David Brookstein, Dean of the School of Engineering and Textiles at Philadelphia University since 1997, earned a D. Sc. in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1976 and a Bachelor in textile engineering from Georgia Tech in 1971. Dave was with Albany International Research for 14 years rising to Associate Director. He received the Fiber Society Award for Distinguished Achievement in 1988 and is in the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni of Georgia Tech.

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Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

A New Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Initiative at Philadelphia University Abstract

Philadelphia University is developing a new engineering school based on a strategic decision made three years ago to re-engineer its School of Textiles and Materials Technology and expand undergraduate educational offerings beyond its legacy B.S. textile engineering program. Today, the school has re-emerged as the School of Engineering and Textiles, currently offering baccalaureate degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and General Engineering with a choice of minor concentration tracks in Industrial, Mechanical, Environmental, Textile, or Architectural Engineering. Furthermore, two new programs, Architectural Engineering and a dual degree program in Environmental Engineering/B.S. Chemistry (environmental science) will be offered beginning fall 2007. To accomplish the above the School of Engineering and Textiles developed a five-year strategic plan around three major initiatives: 1) Recruitment and retention strategies oriented to attract, recruit and retain ultimately a diverse student body of 300 engineering students, 2) an integrated first two year engineering curriculum that emphasizes unity of knowledge across disciplines and promotes engineering as both a profession and service to humanity, and 3) preparing students to be life-long learners by developing student-centered learning communities enhanced by a state- of-the-art engineering classroom that integrates theory with experiential learning.

Even though it is premature to assess the effectiveness of School of Engineering strategic plan, preliminary results are encouraging. The first class (2005) consisted of 12 students, the second class (2006) of 21 students, and the freshman retention rate for the first class is 83.3%. The statistics with respect to diversity is also encouraging with 29% of the student body being female, and 16% of the students belonging to minority groups.

I. Introduction

Philadelphia University is developing a new engineering school based on a strategic decision made three years ago to re-engineer its School of Textiles and Materials Technology and expand undergraduate educational offerings beyond its legacy B.S. textile engineering program. The first program, B.S. Industrial and Systems Engineering that started in Fall 2005, is a result of an extensive review of the nationwide educational inventory of engineering programs and a needs analysis for the greater Philadelphia region. Today, the school has re-emerged as the School of Engineering and Textiles, currently offering baccalaureate degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and General Engineering with a choice of minor concentration tracks in Industrial, Mechanical, Environmental, Textile, or Architectural Engineering. Furthermore, two new programs, Architectural Engineering and a dual degree program in Environmental Engineering/B.S. Chemistry (environmental science) will be offered beginning fall 2007. To accomplish the above the School of Engineering developed a five-year strategic plan around three major initiatives: 1) Recruitment and retention strategies oriented to attract, recruit and retain ultimately a diverse student body of 300 engineering students, 2) an integrated first two year engineering curriculum that emphasizes unity of knowledge across disciplines and promotes

Tovia, F., & Govindaraj, M., & Brookstein, D. (2007, June), A New Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Initiative Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2073

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