INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST

16 May 2000

Copyright © 2000 World Expertise LLC – All rights reserved

A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,

edited by Russel C. Jones, PhD., P.E.

CONTENTS

1. Greatest Engineering Achievements of 20^th Century
2. Standards for Technological Literacy
3. Texas A&M Bonfire Report
4. European Journal of Engineering Education articles
5. International Division Programs at ASEE Annual Meeting
6. Worldwide Tuition Increases Lead to Protests
7. Campus Without Tenure Questions Results
8. Nanotechnology: the Next Big Thing
9. ASEE National Award Winners
10. Upcoming meeting
11. Positions of  possible interest
12. Advanced Technology Program Criticism
13. Journal of Engineering Education papers

1. Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20^th Century – This list of technical achievements, selected by the National Academy of Engineering and announced during Engineers Week in February, is now available in detail on a new Web site. The achievements were nominated by 29 professional engineering societies and selected by a panel of top engineers. The rank ordered list ranges from electrification as #1 to high performance materials as #20. See http://www.greatachievements.org/

2. Standards for Technological Literacy – The Technology for All Americans Project of the International Technology Education Association has issued Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology. The standards define what students should know and be able to do in order to be technologically literate, and prescribes what the outcomes of the study of technology in grades K – 12 should be. It does not provide a curriculum to meet those outcomes, however. In a related effort, a committee of the National Academy of Engineering is studying the issue of technological literacy from grade school through college to adult learners, with a report expected in several months. Information on the new ITEA Standards can be found at http://www.iteawww.org

3. Texas A&M Bonfire Report – The final report of the Special Commission on the 1999 Texas A&M Bonfire structure collapse, which killed eleven students, has been issued. The report blames structural and organizational failures for the deadly collapse. An engineering professor had warned the administration of possible structural problems several years ago, but his suggestions had been ignored. The final report is available at http://www.tamu.edu/bonfire-commission/

4. European Journal of Engineering Education – Volume 25, Number 2 of the Journal includes several papers of interest: “A Multi-Campus Virtual Corporate Laboratory” by James D. Meindl; “Motivation and Attrition in Engineering Students” by Caroline Baillie and Geraldine Fitzgerald; and “Encouraging Student’s Attitude of Innovation in Research Universities” by Jose R. Casar. Information about this journal is at http://www.catchword.co.uk/titles/03043797.htm

5. International Division programs at ASEE Annual  Meeting – The Annual Meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education will be held in St. Louis, MO, from 18-21 June 2000. Full information on the program and on registration can be found at http://www.asee.org/ . The International Division has a full program of sessions planned, including: Preparation for the Global Practice of Engineering; Globalization in Engineering Education; International Decade for Engineering Advancement; International Cooperation Initiatives in Engineering Education; Electronic International Experience; and Engineering Education-An International Perspective. Full program details are at http://www.asee.org/webmat/

6. Worldwide Tuition Increases Lead to Protests – An article in the 5 May 2000 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, entitled “Worldwide Tuition Increases Send Students into the Streets”, summarizes protests by students in several countries over cost increases. The article, written by Colin Woodard, states that there has been a global trend over the past decade for countries to increase tuition and jack up fees. In many of these countries, tuition has always been cheaper that a textbook, so the change in financing of higher education has been traumatic. Protests by students have occurred in several countries, including Hungary, Mexico, Ghana, Canada, Israel and Britain. The writer states that the root cause of the pressure on the cost of college is the surge in demand for higher education worldwide, coupled with the inability of public financing of higher education to keep pace with the growing need. See http://chronicle.com/world

7. Campus without Tenure Questions Results – Professors who joined Florida Gulf Coast University when it opened three years ago knew that tenure would not be part of their deal – but they signed on for a chance to work at an experimental institution. Now many of them say they have no job security at all, and they want changes in the public university’s system of multiyear contracts. Currently even faculty members who receive strong evaluations can be terminated by administrators without explanation, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education written by Robin Wilson. How this situation is resolved will be of interest to many who have strongly held opinions about tenure – pro and con. See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v46/i36/36a01801.htm

8. Nanotechnology: the next Big Thing – The Clinton Administration recently announced the National Nanotechnology Initiative, a decade long program spread out over several federal agencies. In an article in the 5/1/00 issue of “Chemical and Engineering News”, William Schultz describes initial efforts of the Administration to sell the initiative to the several congressional committees who have oversight on those agencies. Objectives of the National Nanotechnology Initiative include supporting long-term research, encouraging transdisciplinary cooperation, providing education opportunities, exploring of applications, and rapid commercialization of innovations.

9. ASEE National Award Winners – The American Society for Engineering Education has announced that the following national and society awards will be presented at the ASEE Awards Banquet at its annual meeting, on 21 June 2000 in St. Louis MO:  Frederick J. Berger Award - Walter W. Buchanan, Northeastern University; General Electric Senior Research Award - Nicholas A. Peppas, Purdue University; Meriam/Wiley Distinguished Author Award - Yunus A. Cengel, University of Nevada-Reno; Minorities in Engineering Award, Prateen V. Desai, Georgia Institute of Technology; Benjamin Garver Lamme Award - John L. Hennessy, Stanford University; William Elgin Wickenden Award - Bruce E. Seely. See http://www.asee.org/welcome/html/action.htm

10. Upcoming meeting – The 2000 International Conference on Engineering Education will be held in Taipei, Taiwan, from 14-18 August 2000. Keynote speakers include Dr. Chang Lin Tien, NEC Distinguished Professor and Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley; Dr. Saul K. Fenster, President of New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Dr. Yiu Chung Cheng, Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong. Information on the program and registration is at http://icee2000.nctu.edu.tw/content.htm

11. Positions of possible interest – The following positions are advertised in the 5 May 2000 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education:
• Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs – Science/Engineering, Yale University, CT
• Director of Digital Worlds Institute, University of Florida
• Executive Dean, University of Western Australia
• Chief Academic Officer, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX

And the following were listed in the 12 May 2000 Chronicle:

·        Head of School – Electrical/Computer Systems Engineering, RMIT University, Australia

·        Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, TX

·        Director of Advanced Computation Center for Engineering and Science, University of Texas – Austin

·        Deputy Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor, James Cook University, Australia

·        Dean of Academic Affairs, DeVry Institute of Technology, CA

·        Provost, Pepperdine University, CA

See http://chronicle.com

12. Advanced Technology Program Criticism – A news article by Jeffrey Mervis in the 5 May 2000 issue of Science reports that Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), chair of the House Science Committee, has released a report critical of several projects funded by the Advanced Technology Program. The ATP is run by the National Institute of Standards under a 1988 law aimed at making U.S. companies more competitive in global markets by funding innovative research with potentially high payoffs. After reviewing a General Accounting Office report on three of the ATP projects, Sensenbrenner complained that ATP was “duplicating private research and shortchanging taxpayers”. ATP supporters said that the report used badly flawed methodology, and saw it as part of the continuing battle by those who dislike ATP. See www.sciencemag.org

13. Journal of Engineering Education papers – The April 2000 issue of the ASEE Journal of Engineering Education includes the following among its several papers: “Accounting for Individual Efforts in Cooperative Learning Teams”, by Deborah Kaufman, Richard Felder and Hugh Fuller; “EC2000 and Measurement – How Much Precision is Enough?”, by Gloria Rogers; and “Impact of Holistic and Learning-Oriented Teaching on Academic Success”, by L.E.Bernold et al.

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