Conference Session

Inclusive Horizons: Shaping Diverse Pathways in Engineering and Design Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brandon Bakka, University of Texas at Austin; Elisa Koolman, University of Texas at Austin

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY), Equity

students in STEM[8], [9], [10]. Additionally, first year mentorshipprograms have previously been implemented successfully in both the biomedical engineering andchemical engineering departments at UT [11], [12]. Peer mentorship programs, or programs thatmatch students at different stages of the same degree, are shown to positively affect graduatestudents’ academic, social, psychological, and career development [13]. Fostering this additionalform of mentorship can act as a safety net for students with insufficient institutionalizedmentorship (e.g. research advisor) which can reduce feelings of isolation. Developing a programfor peers, especially around the same identity, can form a sense of community, between mentorshippairs and across pairs [13]. A

Conference Session

MECH - Technical Session 8: Sustainability and Interdisciplinary Learning

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deepika Ganesh, University of Michigan; Carissa Yim, University of Michigan

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH)

, sustainability courses were notintegrated into prescribed undergraduate or graduate engineering curricula, and in some cases this mayhave been due to a lack of resources. Rather, students independently sought ‘special topics’ to supporttheir interest in sustainability. This lack of emphasis on sustainability contrasts the descriptions ofin-person exposure to sustainable technology which ultimately steered those individuals towardsustainable engineering careers. The instructor’s sentiment that “people are willing to learn but you needto show them why it’s important,” echoes McCormick et al.'s work from 2015 [21]. They found that“participation in more experiential, enriching learning,” improved the value students place on sustainableengineering and their

Collection

2016 Rocky Mountain Section Conference

Authors

Jeffrey S. Bates; Taylor D. Sparks

problems • An ability to communicate technical information effectively in oral and written form • An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary in materials engineering practicesOur goals for this course were to teach the students to think creatively, be leaders in innovation,solve problems, understand the broader context of research and engineering design, prepare forfuture careers in entrepreneurship and technology, and improve critical thinking skills. Goalsand methods are outlined in Table 1. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016

Collection

2011 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Pawan Tyagi; Christine Newman

future career.4 In addition to earlyengineering exposure, a more practical aspect of attending an introductory engineering program may beto earn college credits from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). College credits have three utilities: (a)enhances the student’s college application, (b) makes college education more affordable, and (c) reducesthe course load in the initial year and allows the student to settle into college at a convenient pace.5,6 Atpresent there are a large number of introductory engineering programs, however, rarely are theseprograms ABET accredited and provide transferable college credits to high school students. On the otherhand there are a vast number of courses at community colleges and universities, which allow high

Collection

2016 Spring ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Conference

Authors

Abdullah Konak; Sadan Kulturel-Konak

-to-face students. In a study6 involving IT students, for example, we found that online studentsexhibited more negative attitude toward teamwork than face-to-face students did. In anotherstudy11 about an online cyber security course, students rated group work activities among theleast favored parts of the course.In this paper, we investigate and compare face-to-face and online students’ interest in developingtheir teamwork skills. When students are interested in the subject matter, they tend to processthe information more efficiently and use more effective strategies that lead to deeper learning.Interest is also an important construct for identifying students’ career choices. In a longitudinalstudy12, for example, interest predicted the

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael D. Johnson, Texas A&M University; Amarnath Banerjee, Texas A&M University; Bimal P. Nepal, Texas A&M University; Glen Miller

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees Poster Session

prominent topic inengineering education [8]. This work details results from a National Science Foundation projectthat uses evidence-based interventions to improve the education of ethical researchers andpractitioners in STEM fields. To allow for a better understanding of views of ethics that studentsmatriculate to the university with, this work details the results of a survey given to first yearengineering students. This will not only identify the gaps that need to be filled during theircollege career but also inform the designing of the summer enrichment program for high schoolteachers to improve ethics content, which is also part of this project. This work also contributesto the lack of empirical work related to ethics at the tertiary level [1

Collection

2012 Northeast Section Meeting

Authors

Keith M. Gardiner

]. LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY NEEDSPost-Sputnik (1957) there was surge in attention paid to science education in the US. During the late twentiethcentury there was an awakening emphasis on the skills needed by individuals seeking careers in the industrialworkplace – business-awareness, communication, project management/planning, presenting and reporting,teamwork plus integration were being reported as areas of weakness in engineering education by learnedprofessional society groups [6]. Concurrently, in the early eighties, this triggered the establishment of aManufacturing Technology Institute (MTI) under the aegis of the Corporate Technical Institutes at IBM [7]. MTIwas created as an IBM ‘university’ to revitalize and broaden the skill-levels of the

Conference Session

Track 4: Technical Session 5: Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Blind and Visually Impaired Students: A Case Study

Collection

2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Authors

Lance Leon Allen White, Texas A&M University; Sara Amani, Texas A&M University; Trini Sofia Balart, Texas A&M University; Amanda Kate Lacy; Gene Sung-Ho Kim, Stanford University; Gibin Raju, Texas A&M University; Karan Watson P.E., Texas A&M University; Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

2025 CoNECD Paper Submissions, Diversity

complex and understaffed disability services, and societal biases that can furtherhinder access Amanda’s story exemplifies these obstacles: a turning point in her academicjourney occurred in elementary school when she received her first laptop, sparking an interest incomputing that later evolved into a career as a quality assurance specialist focused onaccessibility at a Forbes Fortune 100 company. This achievement is notable, given thataccessibility was often an afterthought in her educational environments, a reality that,regrettably, persists today. Her experiences reflect broader issues facing blind and visuallyimpaired students pursuing STEM careers in the 21st century.Recognizing and celebrating the achievements of STEM professionals who

Collection

2015 Pacific Southwest Section Meeting

Authors

Thais da C. L. Alves

andinterests and to have students experience how work is developed in their fields. Students are invitedto interact with professionals in different settings and occasions that promote networking, learningabout technical topics, and improving their presentation and interpersonal skills. The basis ofstudent chapters’ work is “tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me,and I will understand”. They basically help students to put into practice knowledge acquired incoursework and interactions with industry practitioners. Within this context, this paper discussesa research project funded by ELECTRI International about promoting careers in the electricalcontracting business through student chapter engagement and research on energy

Collection

2025 ASEE North Central Section (NCS) Annual Conference

Authors

Tina Johnson Cartwright, Marshall University; Julie Lynn Snyder-Yuly, Marshall University; Wook-sung Yoo, Marshall University; Husnu Saner Narman, Marshall University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

now is planning toward my future and possible workplaces following graduation.” Thosein the fixed mindset were more likely to indicate they wanted more help with resume writing,finding internships, and other work related issues. These same students also dismissed theworkshops that created the next semester, which often addressed these same topics. Unlike thefixed mindset students, those with growth mindset indicated their challenges centered on findingbalance. One growth mindset student mentioned, “Maintaining a health stress level as I find theend of the semester very stressful with such a large amount of exams.” Those in the growthmindset rarely mentioned career oriented help, but were more interested in help in tutoring toincrease their

Conference Session

Marketing Engineering to Minority Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

AC 2007-2871: ATTRACTING UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS TOENGINEERING WITH SERVICE-LEARNINGLinda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Linda Barrington is the Service-Learning Coordinator for the Francis College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is a second career Mechanical Engineer, who also brings over twenty years of human services management to this position. She assists faculty in all five engineering departments to develop course-based service-learning projects by linking them with appropriate non-profit organizations to meet real community needs.John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor of Mechanical and Solar Engineering, faculty coordinator of

Conference Session

Minorities in Engineering Division Technical Session 8

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bruk T. Berhane, University of Maryland, College Park; Felicia James Onuma; Stephen Secules, University of Maryland, College Park

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

) A comparatively large portion of current STEM professionals retiring athigh rates, particularly as baby boomers transition toward the end of their careers; and 2) Ashortage of younger STEM professionals with requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities in thesefields (Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century, 2007; NationalScience Foundation, 2006b; Southern Education Foundation, 2005; Perna et al., 2009). A morealarming explanation, however, given our nation’s changing demographic landscape, is the shortsupply of minorities in the STEM pipeline (American Institutes for Research, 2012, 2014). Among Blacks, in particular, this low rate of participation in the sciences and engineeringis well documented (Bowen

Conference Session

International Division Technical Session 6

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ning Xuan Yip, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Melissa Loren Ullmer, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jennifer L. Groh, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Darshini Render, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

International

. In addition, she is currently assisting the faculty in the School of Chemical Engineering with the metabolic engineering and flux analysis of photosynthetic organisms.Miss Melissa Loren Ullmer, Purdue University, West Lafayette Melissa Ullmer is a fourth year student at Purdue University pursuing an bachelors of science in Biomedi- cal Engineering. She grew up in Kokomo, IN. Currently she serves as the ”Diversity Chair” of the Purdue Women in Engineering Leadership Team to aid international students during their college careers. Her other activities include serving on the Leadership Team of the Innovation to Reality team which teaches middle school students about engineering, serving as a member of Timmy Global

Conference Session

Faculty Development and Research Programs (NEE)

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Denise Wilson, University of Washington; Jennifer J. VanAntwerp, Calvin University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators Division (NEE)

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with research in protein engineering. Her current research interests include retention, diversity, and career pathways among engineering students and professionals. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 What do Engineering and other pSTEM Faculty Need? Exploring the Nuances of Psychological NeedsAbstractWe conducted semi-structured interviews of 13 men and 18 women faculty in engineering, math,and physics (pSTEM) to explore their thoughts and feelings about their experiences in theacademic workplace. Interview transcripts were deductively and thematically coded according topsychological needs of autonomy, competence, and

Conference Session

Industrial Engineering Division (IND) Technical Session 3

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ekaterina Koromyslova, South Dakota State University; Carrie Steinlicht, South Dakota State University; Miriam Kanini Peter

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering Division (IND)

/work ethic,oral/written communications, teamwork/collaboration, leadership, and other related skills [8-9].Another complication in this situation is that a majority of college graduates (over 80%) believe theyare proficient in these skills when entering their first workplace [9-10]. The goal of this study is to explore how the higher education system responds to thesechallenges and what is still needed to be done to reduce these gaps and prepare qualified graduatesready for a successful career. To examine how higher education adapts to emerging employer 1needs and implements the necessary changes in engineering education, we completed a

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Diana G. de la Rosa-Pohl, University of Houston; Catherine Horn, University of Houston

Tagged Topics

Diversity, NSF Grantees Poster Session

STEM as a career path[2]. Not only does this underrepresentation of low-SES graduates impact the overall numbers ofSTEM professionals in the U.S., but it also means that those graduates are missing out on all ofthe financial and professional benefits that a job in STEM offers.To address the representation gap in STEM for low-income students, the National ScienceFoundation created the Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) grant program. NSF seeks to supportevidence-based initiatives that will support low-income STEM students financially and in othernon-financial ways. The Endeavour Program was developed as one of those initiatives, and itprovides scholarships for 80 students over their first two years in a STEM major. Knowing thatthe link between

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division Technical Session 5

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Luis Enrique Guardia, Florida International University; Mais Kayyali, Florida International University; Alexandra Coso Strong, Florida International University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

-Serving Institutions (MSIs) overall and support continued educational innovation within engineering at these in- stitutions. Specifically, she focuses on (1) educational and professional development of graduate students and faculty, (2) critical transitions in education and career pathways, and (3) design as central to educa- tional and global change. American c Society for Engineering Education, 2021 Graduate Student Perceptions of an Ideal Mentor in Engineering and Computing at a Minority Serving Institution: Preliminary ResultsAbstractReports from the National Academies and Council of Graduate Schools suggest that

Conference Session

Pre-College Engineering Education Division Technical Session 3

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Sabina A. Schill, University of Colorado Boulder; Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Pre-College Engineering Education

provision of career and psychosocial support. [8, p. 2]Many studies have focused on the benefits to mentees, both at the K-12 youth and undergraduatelevels [5], [6], [13], [14]. Previous research of effective faculty mentorship in undergraduateresearch found that undergraduate mentees self-reported gains in research, skills, productivity,and retention in STEMM [8]. Estrada et al. [15] found that when combined with qualitymentorship, research experiences positively impacted URM students’ science efficacy, identity,and values. Beyond undergraduate research settings, effective mentorship has been shown toimpact the science identity and deep interest in science of female undergraduate students, andthese gains were higher for students mentored by

Conference Session

Preparing Engineering Students for Their Professional Practice

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Kanembe Shanachilubwa, Pennsylvania State University; Megan Ellery; Gabriella M. Sallai, Pennsylvania State University; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Definition Example Condition Preparedness for academic competency arising from a Funding •• Readiness combination of personal maturity Specified Career Goals • and favorable environmental Familiarity with Advisor conditions. An external stimulus for which an Coursework •• individual lacks the skills, Qualifying

Conference Session

Undergraduate Students' Development of Computational and Programming Skills

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Angela Minichiello P.E., Utah State University; Muhammad Asghar P.E., Utah State University; Ebenezer Ewumi, Washington State University; Candis S. Claiborn, Washington State University; Olusola Adesope, Washington State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

and studied for over a decade. Continuing HIP research, however, isstill needed across varying activities and institutional contexts because HIP take different formsand are employed based on learner characteristics as well as institutional priorities [6]. Kuh [6]identified eleven high impact educational practices (HIP) as shown in Figure 1. Six of thesepractices (i.e., global learning and study abroad, internships, learning communities, seniorculminating experiences, service and community-based learning, and undergraduate research)have been reported by students to provide personal and practical, career-related gains in additionto support for deep learning of academic content [7]. Based on their demonstrated ability tosupport student personal

Conference Session

2-Year College Division: Students and the Pipeline

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Leo Salgado, University of California, Irvine; Sharnnia Artis, University of California, Irvine; Hye Rin Lee, University of California, Irvine; Lorenzo Valdevit, University of California, Irvine

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Two-Year College

decision-making process or engaging in a task. Modern theories of motivation have been developed basedon beliefs, engagement, control, attribution, values, interest, goal-driven, and achievement-related choices [13]. Such theories have taken various approaches to understanding individuals’motivation.Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivationCurrently, the expectancy-value theory of motivation is one of the most used motivationalmodels to study students’ career choices in engineering [14]. Expectancy-value theory (Eccles etal., 1983) is considered the most influential theory for explaining students’ learning behavior andachievement-related choices [15]. The theory indicates that the students’ task choice and level ofengagement are driven by

Conference Session

CoNECD Session : Day 1 Slot 4 Technical Session 4

Collection

2021 CoNECD

Authors

Memoria Elizabeth Matters, Purdue University at West Lafayette; Carla B. Zoltowski, Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE); Andrew O. Brightman, Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE); Patrice Marie Buzzanell, University of South Florida

Tagged Topics

CoNECD Paper Submissions, Diversity

Design at Shanghai Jiao- tong University. Fellow and Past President of the International Communication Association (ICA), she served as President of the Council of Communication Associations and the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender. She is a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communica- tion Association. Her research focuses on career, work-life policy, resilience, gender, and engineering design. She received ICA’s Mentorship Award and the Provost Outstanding Mentor Award at Purdue, where she was University Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair and Director of the Susan Bulke- ley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence. She has worked with Purdue-ADVANCE initiatives for

Conference Session

Undergraduate Track - Technical Session VI

Collection

2018 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity Conference

Authors

Bruk T. Berhane, University of Maryland, College Park

Tagged Topics

Undergraduate Education

to all students across the U.S. (Calvert, 2015). Foregrounded by thesetrends, it is crucial to understand the support mechanisms that best support undergraduates incommunity colleges.1 There are different types of two-year schools, which can include vocational-technical colleges, communitycolleges, and career colleges (The College Board, n.d.). For this research, “two-year college” refers specifically tocommunity college, and as such I will use the terms “two-year college” and “community college” interchangeablythroughout this document.ON BECOMING A “TRANSFER INSTITUTION” 3 Considerably large numbers of majority and minority STEM degree recipients enroll incommunity

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Ting, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Carol Barry, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Xiaoqi Zhang, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Donn Clark, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Alan Rux, University of Massachusetts-Lowell

AC 2007-2639: SERVICE-LEARNING INTEGRATED INTO EXISTING CORECOURSES THROUGHOUT A COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGJohn Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty Coordinator SLICE Program.David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Professor, Plastics Engineering Department.Linda Barrington, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Service-Learning Coordinator for the Francis College of Engineering. She is a second career Mechanical Engineer, with over twenty years of human services management.John Ting, University of Massachusetts Lowell Dean of the College of Engineering.Carol Barry, University of Massachusetts-Lowell Associate Professor, Plastics

Conference Session

New Engineering Educators: Off the Beaten Path

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin Adams, Purdue University; Cheryl Allendoerfer, University of Washington; Tori Rhoulac Smith, Howard University; David Socha, University of Washington; Dawn Williams, Howard University; Ken Yasuhara

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

changing such as the recent transformation of the Journal ofEngineering Education into the premiere journal for engineering education research [8]. Centralto these changes are conversations around envisioning engineering education as a newprofessional discipline [9-11]. These conversations focus on such issues as frameworks for newdisciplinary endeavors [12], guidelines for rigorous research [13], and research agendas [14].One challenge emerging from all these conversations is how to share what we as a communityare learning about the process of conducting engineering education research, ways to make animpact on engineering education, and strategies for successfully navigating an engineeringeducation career. As an interdisciplinary endeavor

Conference Session

Student Diversity: attracting and retaining a diverse population of students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deborah Kilgore, University of Washington; Debbie Chachra, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Heidi Loshbaugh, Colorado School of Mines; Janice McCain, Howard University; Marcus Jones, Howard University; Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

Page 12.420.10described intending to focus more on engineering-oriented extracurriculars in the future—including NSBE. “This semester I didn’t do much in engineering itself, mostly like, like clubs, 9the extracurricular things outside, just generally nothing very specific to engineering….Theyhave career fairs and stuff like that, but I really didn’t do much in engineering, so I’m trying todo that more next semester."Mark, a male Civil Engineering student, found his first year extremely difficult, because, “I playfootball out here, too. I joined in September and like it wasn’t a scholarship, I just walked on.”Mark said his academic advisor was

Conference Session

Knowing Our Students, Part 2

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mica Hutchison, Purdue University; Deborah Follman, Purdue University; George Bodner, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

: National Academies Press, 2007.4. Bandura, A., Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1997.5. Pajares, F., "Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Academic Settings," Review of Educational Research, Vol. 66, No. 4,1996, pp. 543-578.6. Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., Schmidt, J., Brenner, B., Lyons, H. and Treistman, D., "Relation of ContextualSupports and Barriers to Choice Behavior in Engineering Majors: Test of Alternative Social Cognitive Models,"Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2003, pp. 458-465.7. Schaefers, K. G., Epperson, D. L. and Nauta, M. M., "Women's Career Development: Can TheoreticallyDerived Variables Predict Persistence in Engineering Majors?," Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 44, 1997,pp

Collection

2021 Fall ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Meeting

Authors

Beth (Ann Elizabeth) Wittig, City University of New York, City College; Alison Conway, City University of New York, City College; Naresh Devineni, The City College of New York

Getting involved Taking and seminars on student career internship in research passing the FE campus organizations counseling exam office Very important Somewhat important Not at all important Figure 9. Comparison of Understanding of Importance of Valuable Extracurricular Activities by

Conference Session

Educational Issues in Civil Engineering

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anant Kukreti, University of Cincinnati

Tagged Divisions

Civil Engineering

. Page 14.1027.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2009 “Research Experiences for Undergraduate Sites for Tomorrows Engineers” AbstractThis paper documents the programs implemented in the Research Experiences forUndergraduates (REU) Sites offered from 1992 to 2008 at two different institutions, Universityof Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma and University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio. The programshave been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The primary goal of the NSFREU program is to introduce undergraduate students to, and encourage them to pursue, careers inresearch. The paper presents how the whole research program was planned and

Conference Session

FPD7 -- Service Learning

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Kazmer, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; John Duffy, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Beverly Perna, Tsongas Industrial History Center

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

impact on student motivation and success.2. IntroductionEngineering education seems to have come under increased criticism lately, with manycompanies and students arguing that engineering curricula are too abstract and disconnected [1,2]. It is interesting to reflect upon similar concerns of Henderson [3] and Grinter [4] dating backto 1983 and even 1955. These studies consistently indicate that engineering education shouldhave the following properties: 1. Relevance to the lives and careers of students, preparing them for a broad range of careers, as well as for lifelong learning involving both formal programs and hands-on experience; 2. Attractiveness so that the excitement and intellectual content of engineering will