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Session 1460

Incorporating Engineering Standards in the Major Design Experience

William E. Kelly The Catholic University of America

Introduction

The ABET Criteria for Engineering programs require students to incorporate engineering standards in the culminating design experience.1 The United States National Standards Strategy (NSS) calls for increased efforts to educate future leaders in engineering, business and public policy on the value and importance of standards. 2 There is a unique opportunity for the standards community to assist academe in incorporating engineering standards in undergraduate engineering curricula and at the same time accomplish one of the goals of the NSS.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the ABET requirement to include engineering standards in design and some ongoing activities in the standards community that can assist and support this. It will be shown that there are extensive materials readily available to assist faculty in including engineering standards in the major design experience. It will also be shown that engineering standards have broad policy implications and developing an awareness of these aspects can contribute to a student's general education.

ABET requirements

Criterion 4 of the Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs requires students to use engineering standards in the major design experience. Criterion 4 also requires that students consider realistic constraints that include most of the list of the 12 considerations included in the criterion. Several of the considerations specifically - environmental, health, and safety - are commonly the subject of standards, codes and technical regulations that influence design and manufacturing or construction.

For the purposes of trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement defines technical regulations for products as standards with which compliance is mandatory.3 The European Union's (EU) "New Approach" issues directives that define standards needed to ensure that the EU meets its objectives in the

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Kelly, W. (2003, June), Incorporating Engineering Standards In The Major Design Experience Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12427