Vision 2030; Creating the Future of Mechanical Engineering Education
- Conference
- Location
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Vancouver, BC
- Publication Date
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June 26, 2011
- Start Date
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June 26, 2011
- End Date
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June 29, 2011
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Mechanical Engineering
- Page Count
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12
- Page Numbers
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22.1667.1 - 22.1667.12
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--18870
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/18870
- Download Count
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2190
Paper Authors
Allan T. Kirkpatrick Colorado State University
Professor of Mechanical Engineering,
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, 1981, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scott Danielson Arizona State University, Polytechnic campus
Dr. Scott Danielson is the Department Chair of the Engineering Technology Department at Arizona State University and has served in this capacity since 1999. He has been active in ASEE in the Mechanics Division and the Engineering Technology Division, currently serving on the Executive Board of the Engineering Technology Council. He has also been active in ASME; being awarded the 2009 Ben C. Sparks Medal for excellence in mechanical engineering technology education, serving as a member of the Vision 2030 Task Force, serving as chair elect of the Committee on Engineering Technology Accreditation, serving on the Board of Directors of the ASME Center for Education, and as a member of the Mechanical Engineering Technology Department Head Committee. He has been a program evaluator for both the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and ASME and currently serves on the Technology Accreditation Council (TAC) of ABET, representing ASME. He also serves on the SME’s Manufacturing Education and Research Community steering committee. Before joining ASU, he had been at North Dakota State University where he was a faculty member in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering department. His research interests include machining, effective teaching and engineering mechanics. Before coming to academia, he was a design engineer, maintenance supervisor, and plant engineer. He is a registered professional engineer.
Robert O. Warrington Michigan Technological University
Robert O. Warrington is currently Director of the Institute for Leadership and Innovation, which houses the Enterprise program and the new Pavlis Institute for Global Technological Leadership at Michigan Technological University. Dr. Warrington was Dean of the College of Engineering from 1996 to 2007 and was the founder and Director of the Institute for Micromanufacturing at Louisiana Tech University. Before joining Michigan Tech in 1996, he received his B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1968), his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas, El Paso (1972) and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University (1975). Dr. Warrington served in the U.S. Army for two years and on the faculty at Montana State University for eight years. He was the head of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Louisiana Tech University for 11 years, and was the Director of the Institute for Micromanufacturing from 1991 - 1996. Dr. Warrington currently sits on the advisory board for the ASME Nanotechnology Institute. He is past VP for Education, Centers Sector of ASME. He currently leads the Vision 2030 study for the future of mechanical engineering education. He is a member of the Board of Directors for ABET after serving a number of years as a program evaluator, member of the Engineering Accreditation Council and the Executive Committee of the EAC. Dr. Warrington is chair of the Education Committee for the Pan American Federation of Engineering Societies (UPADI). Dr. Warrington is a Fellow of ASME and AAAS. He was an associate editor (now emeritus) for the ASME/IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and has over 150 technical publications and numerous presentations (35 invited), and 49 research grants from foundations, government and industry. Dr. Warrington is the founder of the Commercialization of Microsystems Conferences, is past founding president of MANCEF and currently is a member of the executive board for MANCEF. Dr. Warrington is also an Associate Director for the Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems, an NSF Engineering Research Center. Dr. Warrington's research interests include MEMS (particularly micro heat transfer and fluid flow), micromanufacturing, energy scavenging at the microscale, and micromechanical machining processes.
Richard N. Smith Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Prof. Smith is Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at RPI. He is currently on assignment as a Program Officer in the Human Resources Development Division of the National Science Foundation.
Karen A. Thole Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Department Head, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department, Penn State
A. Kulacki University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
B.S.M.E. and M.S., Gas Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology. Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota. Served as Chairperson of MAE at University of Delaware (1980 - 1985), Dean of Engineering at Colorado State University (1986 - 1993) and Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at University of Minnesota (1993 - 1995). Currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota. Served as Distinguished Visiting Professor and Assistant Provost at the Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi (2008 - 2009). Fellow of the AAAS and Life Member and Fellow of ASME. Research and consulting in the fields of heat/mass transfer, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear reactor safety. Served on various technical and educational committees of ASEE and ASME.
William J. Wepfer Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. William J. Wepfer is the Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair and Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Dr. Wepfer’s research interests are in thermal systems, heat transfer, and thermodynamics, with particular emphasis on energy systems. Dr. Wepfer is a Fellow of ASME and ASHRAE. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET and is the Vice-President for Education for ASME. He has served departmental advisory boards at Pennsylvania State University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University.
Thomas Perry, P.E. American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Abstract
Vision 2030 – Charting the Future of Mechanical Engineering EducationIntroductionIn July 2009, the ASME Center for Education formed an engineering education task force,subsequently entitled ASME Vision 2030. The Vision 2030 Task Force is still actively pursuingtwo primary objectives: help define the knowledge and skills that mechanical engineering ormechanical engineering technology graduates should have to be globally competitive in the 21stcentury, and, to provide recommendations for mechanical engineering education curriculatowards providing graduates with necessary expertise for successful professional practice.Paper ContentsWhile the task force is still active, much progress has been made. This paper will provide anoverview of the task force composition, the approach towards accomplishing the goals, andinitial findings. Importantly, the task force is not composed of just academics. Rather, industryrepresentatives have been involved from the initiation of the task force and an extensive surveyeffort was undertaken to gather input from both industry and academics. The paper willsummarize these data, the issues revealed by them and curricular modifications to address thoseissues.The task force recognizes that the role and scope of mechanical engineering practice have beentransforming rapidly. What mechanical engineers do, and how they do it, is changing due to anumber of drivers, including the expansion of the discipline’s boundaries and the multifacetedimpact of the globalization of engineering and manufacturing. In addition, many contemporaryengineering problems are considered to be ‘multi-disciplinary’ in nature, involving more thanclassic mechanical engineering expertise and traditional knowledge domains. These importanttransformations within mechanical engineering profession serve as motivators for academicprograms to make significant changes to mechanical engineering curricula and serve as a basisfor recommendations coming out of the task force.The Vision 2030 task force has identified the challenges of sustainable engineering, energy, andhuman health as ones where mechanical engineers should lead development of innovative andsustainable solutions. There are many opportunities for mechanical engineering education tofocus on the challenges of improving human health and alleviating poverty in the developingworld. Many students find such activities attractive and very rewarding; as they provide a venueto apply their mechanical engineering skills to improve the quality of life of people in lessfortunate circumstances. The paper reflects the task forces suggestions for curricular change toreflect this perspective.The task force believes that implementing suggested changes to mechanical engineeringeducation, mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology programs will attracta wider diversity of students and educate students that will be well suited to lead, bothtechnically and politically. Such graduates will be well equipped to face the demands of rapidlychanging business models and the rapid expansion of technology, communication, andworldwide engineering talent.
Kirkpatrick, A. T., & Danielson, S., & Warrington, R. O., & Smith, R. N., & Thole, K. A., & Kulacki, A., & Wepfer, W. J., & P.E., T. P. (2011, June), Vision 2030; Creating the Future of Mechanical Engineering Education Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18870
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