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Session 1793

Instilling Essential Globalization Skills Through Internet Based International Joint-Venture Projects

Prof. Roxanne Jacoby Department of Mechanical Engineering The Nerken School of Engineering, Cooper Union

Abstract

The rapid, relentless, globalization of manufacturing and services, and the substantial productivity gains of the past several years, has created the need for well-rounded graduating engineers, understanding the business side of engineering just as well as the technical side. They also have to understand the rigors of brutal international competition, and be prepared to withstand it successfully, and even thrive in these conditions. In order to prepare our students for increased globalization, Cooper Union has undertaken the task of upgrading our course offerings, and improving our students’ business, communications, leadership, and teamwork skills throughout the curriculum. We also have created a course in which globalization is discussed at length, and applied in an Internet based joint- venture project simulation, in the GLOBETECH project. The GLOBETECH project has been successful for the past nine years, and represents one of our major achievements in preparing our graduating engineers for the challenges of the twenty-first century. This article presents our recent experiences with the GLOBETECH project, and aims to encourage engineering schools from all over to participate in this, or similar projects.

Introduction

We read daily in the press, or see on the TV news, about new subsidiaries of transnational US companies opening up, or enlarging operations in various countries of the world, mainly in South East Asia. What does this mean for our future engineers, here in the United States? How this continuous, accelerating drain of engineering and manufacturing jobs out of the USA will affect their careers? How can we best prepare our students to compete in these new conditions facing them? Do we provide the right tools for professional success? We have to ask ourselves these important questions, since their professional survival will largely depend on how well we prepare them to face the realities of our times.

We live in very exciting times. A time when, due to rapid increase in globalization and Information Technology (IT), most products assembled in the United States have more than 70% of their content supplied by various domestic and overseas firms. As examples consider the car motors fabricated in Japan for the Big Three American car manufacturers, or the many essential parts and subassemblies imported from all over by Boeing for their planes. In the information and computer technologies, and many others, engineers in different countries work and collaborate on the same project 24/7. It is a time when staying competitive, at the cutting edge of technology, bringing to market products desired by customers, of excellent quality, and at competitive prices, is absolutely essential. It is also a time when, more than ever, “no man is an island”; when timely collaboration with others across the room, or across an ocean is essential for rapid product

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering

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Jacoby, R. (2004, June), Instilling Essential Globalization Skills Through Internet Based International Joint Venture Projects Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--14059