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Session 2248

Introducing Freshmen to Manufacturing Engineering Technology and the University Henry W. Kraebber Purdue University, Mechanical Engineering Technology

Abstract: New students in engineering and technology may not understand what the academic program they have entered is really about. Students often get started in a program and find after a semester or two that it is not right for them. Too often students are forced to stay an extra year or more because of changes in their degree objectives and have a significant loss of credits. Students can easily get lost on a big university campus and become frustrated. Some students leave the university because they just never felt like they fit in. The transition to life on campus and the rigors of higher level academics is not always easy.

This paper presents a review of a new introductory course required for students entering the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Technology (CIMT) program at Purdue University. This one credit course (meeting once a week throughout the semester) has been designed to help prepare students for the academic life ahead of them. Students are presented with a variety of different views of the CIMT major, the current trends in industry, and to some of the resources and activities available to them while they are here on campus. Class meetings provide an in- depth look at what Computer Integrated Manufacturing is all about and what will be coming as the students’ progress. Some examples are: • How CIM can address many of the problems of manufacturing companies. • A look ahead at the plan of study for the next four years. • Introductions to the faculty, administrators and courses that make up the program. • Visits to various sites on campus. • Presentations about the CIM related student organizations and support services on campus. • A look at some of the history and customs of the Purdue campus.

The course helps students get to know each other and start off with a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead.

Background: During the early 1990s a major effort was made to develop the infrastructure and facilities supporting the new Purdue degree program in Computer Integrated Manufacturing Technology (CIMT). CIMT is an ABET accredited degree program following the criteria of Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The focus on the development of the CIMT laboratory facilities led to corporate donations of nearly $4 million supporting a unique teaching laboratory

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Kraebber, H. W. (1998, June), Introducing Freshmen To Manufacturing Engineering Technology And The University Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7241