Conference Session

Best Practices in Existing College-Industry Partnerships

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mahesh Aggarwal, Gannon University

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

15.288.4Program OutcomesThe expected outcomes of the program include≠ Technical expertise≠ Experience in managing and delivering projects≠ Proper behavior in the workplace≠ Written and oral communication skills≠ “Soft-skills” of teamwork, leadership, and aggressivenessProgram SuccessProgram success is measured in terms of various indicators:≠ Project assignments and rotation - Usually after a month or so, students are assigned responsible projects indicating the trust manager put in these students. Students rotate within several groups of the organization to allow them to get a broader perspective of the employer’s products and operation. Many times the group does not want them to rotate (considered highly valuable) but have no

Conference Session

College-Industry Partnerships: Bringing Industry into the Curriculum Development and Design Cycle

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tammy Baldwin, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.; Marisa Hemingway, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

industry-education partnerships that already exist.The program was created in line with traditional and contemporary training delivery methods foradult learners. Even more essential was the need to not only develop technical training for allparticipants but also allow for nontechnical training or soft-skill development. The programsuccess hinges on university partnerships as well. Gaps in knowledge and understanding areidentified in associate-level engineers. Using that knowledge, Schweitzer EngineeringLaboratories representatives work intimately with targeted universities to enhance curriculumand industry research partnerships and also develop essential programming to continue to feedthe pipeline for future engineers. The EDP is hinged on the

Conference Session

College-Industry Partnerships: Bringing Industry into the Curriculum Development and Design Cycle

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Shelley, United States Air Force; Kenneth Santarelli, Cal State Fresno

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

leadership may be particularlyeffective because of it conscious and deliberate application of “soft skills”. The effects ofthis observation will unfold during the course of this case study. Another observation of the coalition pyramid is that it is bereft of large private donors.The pyramid is led and motivated by people with a vested interest in local engineeringeducation who lack the fiduciary flexibility of private parties. It was observed in referencefour that local philanthropists suffer from donor fatigue. The need, and ability of theimplementers, to attract private donors will be captured as part of the case study. Evidence of the influence of the grass-roots partners in the local educational communityis noticeable. The high school

Conference Session

College-Industry Partnerships: Bringing Industry into the Curriculum Development and Design Cycle

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Osman Cekic, Purdue University; Monica Cox, Purdue University; Jiabin Zhu, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

College-Industry Partnerships

groups, the industry that employs individualswith a college degree has also brought many criticisms and claimed that the higher educationenterprise is not educating the engineers they need. Among those were the reports from ABET3,the National Academy of Engineering4 and the National Research Council 5. These reports alsocriticized higher education institutions for their lack of success in instilling leadership abilitiesalong with other skills needed within recent engineering graduates. Some of these concerns fromthe industry focused on “soft skills”, what was called earlier, or “professional skills” ofengineers. Among the professional skills one of the most studied attribute or skill is theengineers’ leadership abilities.Although there has been