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Engineering Education Excellence at King Abdul Aziz University: ABET Accreditation and Beyond

Youssef A. Shatilla, Adnan H. Zahed and Yasser A. Hegazy

College of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University P.O. Box. 80204 Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) crossed a historic milestone in 2003 when it acquired the substantial equivalency status for its 12 degree- programs after undergoing evaluation by the ABET. This marked a strong beginning of a life- long process of continuously improving engineering education at KAAU. The entire process of preparing a large faculty to face up to the challenges of arriving at the target, spanning over a period of three years, provided unique experiences of mobilizing human and physical resources akin to a large-scale project management. Out of this experience came several strategic initiatives that will position KAAU to be a leader in engineering education in the Middle East. The two most important initiatives are: (1) the offering of a new mandatory course, Introduction to Engineering Design, and (2) the creation of the Engineering Consulting and Professional Development Office (ECPDO). The goal of the new course is to introduce students to the Engineering Method which can be accomplished by focusing on 1) Self Regulation, 2) Communication, 3) Working Cooperatively and Collaboratively, 4) Problem Solving, 5) Modeling, and 6) Quality. These objectives are achieved by the use of Active Learning in class where student teams, continuous improvement of the learning process and constructivist learning exercises are routinely used. The ECPDO’s mission is to build the most effective partnership between the industry and KAAU. This partnership will help the development of cutting edge research and innovation that benefits society as a whole and fosters regional and national industrial and economic development. ECPDO will help to develop innovative programs that provide students with hands-on, real world experience in industry, and provides industry with excellent opportunities to advance research, leverage the university’s state-of-the-art technology and recruit the engineering talent of the future. A number of important issues relating to the accreditation process and its impact on engineering education at KAAU will be reviewed in this paper.

Introduction

One way of ensuring and demonstrating the high quality of engineering education is through evaluation carried out by accreditation bodies like ABET1. The College of Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) is a pioneering institution in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The College took a strategic decision when it resolved to seek ABET accreditation for all of its 12 engineering degree programs for which it formed a College Steering Committee2 (CSC) in March 2000.

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

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Shatilla, Y., & Zahed, A. (2005, June), Engineering Education Excellence At King Abdul Aziz University: Abet Accreditation And Beyond Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14426