Paper Authors

Abstract

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

Session 1421

Industrial Partnerships at Western Kentucky University

Matthew A. Dettman, P.E. Western Kentucky University

1. Introduction

Western Kentucky University, like many smaller regional institutions, has limited resources to provide all of the necessary tools to deliver an ideal Civil Engineering Technology/Construction Management (CET/CM) curriculum. Since the programs in the Engineering Technology department are undergraduate only and teaching is the driving force, research generated dollars are very limited. Since many of the larger research based institutions utilize a portion of research dollars to purchase and upgrade equipment, software, computers, and pay student employees, this puts Western at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage. To deal with this issue, industrial partnerships were identified to help provide valuable resources to the curriculum. Knowing that no partnership will work without there being advantages to both sides, the partnership also involved providing the industrial partner with much needed technical support wherever possible to create a collaborative relationship. To that end, WKU, in partnership with Scottys Contracting, created the Construction and Engineering Technical Assistance Center.

2. The Construction and Engineering Technical Assistance Center (CETAC)

A gift from Scottys Contracting in the amount of $100,000 provided the necessary support to create CETAC. The primary functions of the Center from the university’s standpoint are 1) To provide support for faculty to engage in professional consulting activities involving students, 2) To gain access to the firms state of the art construction materials laboratory for instructional purposes, and 3) To provide release time to faculty to engage in scholarly activities in accordance with the mission of the department. The primary functions of the Center from the firms standpoint are 1) To gain access to the wealth of education and experience of the engineering faculty, 2) To expose the students to the firms specific area of expertise within the construction industry, and 3) As a recruiting tool for prospective employees. The early results of CETAC have been very positive. Multiple grant contracts that directly involve students in applied research have been awarded to CETAC. The program has been able to expand and improve its educational mission within the constraints of the current resources.

3. Benefits to the University

Scottys Contracting is a large construction firm specializing in asphalt paving and earthwork. Based on the nature of their business, they must have a state-of-the-art materials laboratory to fulfill the requirements of many of their state funded projects. One component of the creation of CETAC included utilizing this laboratory as an extension of WKU’s materials laboratory. Since

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Dettman, M. A. (2000, June), Industrial Partnerships At Western Kentucky University Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8453