INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST

The Bologna process – transforming European higher education – An agreement among the education ministries and the universities and colleges of 45 European countries to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010 has been named the Bologna Process. According to an article by Roderick Floud in the July/August issue of Change, one core agreement is the decision that all higher education institutions in Europe will adopt the three-tiered degree structure of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, familiar in North America . Underpinning these degree structures are agreements about quality assurance, student mobility, new ways of measuring student achievement, and the relationship between teaching and research. As a result, major changes are underway in curricula, the missions of universities, their relationship with national and regional authorities, and their governance. After some initial hostility, academics throughout most of Europe have begun to embrace the idea of totally rethinking their programs. University autonomy is a major issue, with states seeking to assert control through quality assurance systems and control over budgets and student fees. (See http://www.heldref.org)

The widening gulf – A new report from the Rand Corporation suggests that the primary beneficiaries of the technological progress that will take place over the coming decades will be the nations currently in the forefront of scientific and technological achievement, not developing nations. In an article in the August Civil Engineering, Anne Elizabeth Powell reports on the findings of a Rand study entitled “The Global Technology Revolution 2020”, and examines what the findings mean for American civil engineers. The study points out that the nations that are the most advanced scientifically and technologically are also the ones that are the most developed, so they will benefit most from the ongoing technology revolution as they acquire and implement whatever technology applications best satisfy their needs and achieve their goals. As a consequence, the gulf that now divides the scientifically advanced nations from those that lag scientifically will likely widen. Thus where people live will have a big impact on how new technology applications affect their personal health and standard of living, and will also play a part in determining the ability of their countries to protect them and their environment. (See http://www.cemag@asce.org for the article, and for more information on the study itself see http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG475)

Sexing up science – The president of India , an aeronautical engineer who stewarded his country’s guided missile program, has made it his mission to raise India to glory through scientific scholarship. According to an article in the August 21-28 Newsweek International by Mac Margolis and Karla Bruning, 74-year old A.P.J. Abdul Kalam travels from school to school exhorting students to hit the books and excel in science. By all indications the budding scientists of India have taken that advice to heart. Enrollment is soaring in engineering and technical schools throughout India – and elsewhere in Asia . India , China and South Korea are producing legions of engineers much larger than the US , and those graduates are vying for and winning contracts, customers and patents in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. And that is leading educators in the wealthiest countries, such as the US , the UK and Germany , to lose sleep. These three engineering titans still lead the way in technological innovation, but enrollment in university engineering programs is stagnating and the dropout rate further diminishes numbers of graduates. Now Western educators are trying to fix the problem by curricular changes, such as presenting students with real-world challenges early on. And engineering organizations are trying to correct the misconception that science and engineering jobs are geeky, dirty and dull. (See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14324892/site/newsweek)

Taking on TOEFL-- The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the high-stakes test that is an ultimate gate-pass to admission to a US college or university, has increased competition from the International English Language Testing System (ILETS), reports Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed. ILETS, associated with Cambridge University and others, has long been the most popular test for students wanting to study in the UK, Australia, and other parts of the British Commonwealth. While the tests are similar, there are two distinctive differences. The price to take ILETS has been less, although now that the TOEFL has switched to a sliding price scale, that distinction is diminishing. And the speaking part of ILETS is administered face-to-face, while the TOEFL requires candidates to record their speaking answers for assessment later by a panel of six graders. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/07/ilets)

The future of globalization – The Doha round of trade talks ended in failure in July, after a five year stalemate. According to an article in the July 29^th The Economist, the failure is a disaster, born of complacency and neglect, and it signals a defeat of the common good by special-interest politics. If the wreck is terminal, as seems likely, everyone will be the poorer – perhaps gravely so. The round of talks was intended to lift millions out of poverty, curb rich countries’ ruinous farm support, and open markets for countless goods and services. In the long run, the lack of commitment to multilateral trade that sunk the Doha round will also start to corrode the trading system as a whole. (See http://www.economist.com)

The Middle East muddle -- When people interested in the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative created in 2002 by the US State Department met in Washington , DC , recently there was much concern expressed about how current events in the region have impeded university collaboration which was one of the key elements of the program. Of the US$300 million already spent on promoting the spread of democracy, the empowerment of women, economic development and strengthening of education, about US$2 million has gone to several universities. Now some promising projects involving Lebanon are on hold. Supporters of the program, however, point to successes, including the establishment of an engineering program for Saudi women run collaboratively by Duke University and Effat College , wrote Rob Capriccioso in Inside Higher Ed. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/10/mideast)

Singapore-Hopkins partnership ends –

Singapore

’s government and Johns Hopkins University are shutting down a joint research and education program that

Singapore

has funded for 8 years at a cost of more than $50-million. According to an article in the August 4^th Science by Dennis Normile, the partners are blaming each other for failing to achieve goals on recruiting faculty, enrolling students, and transferring technology to local industries. The partnership was focused on biomedical sciences, and included formation of a clinic. A

Singapore

spokesman indicated that the joint effort was an experiment that did not give the desired results, and noted that the government there is collaborating with other universities such as MIT. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)

University partnerships to aid developing countries - At the annual meeting of Higher Education for Development, an organization which sponsors links between US and foreign institutions of higher education for the purpose of economic and social development, speakers described projects funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). One program aims at strengthening the national academies of science in developing countries in order to provide governments with impartial information when making important public policy decisions. A speaker for the World Bank said that since the late 1990s the Bank had been shifting its emphasis from basic to tertiary education with emphasis on technology, quality assurance, and improved pedagogy. According to reporters Beth McMurtrie and Burton Bollag, writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, the point was made that these education partnerships play an important role in gaining friends for the US . (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081404n.htm)

Struggle to fill UK VC positions - Universities in the UK are losing their vice chancellors at such a fast rate that there is a danger of their not being able to find suitable candidates for replacement, writes Anna Fazackerley in The Times Higher Education Supplement on August 8. The challenges of the job are pushing some to leave early, in hopes that fresh ideas can help solve the myriad of difficult problems facing the institutions. Some institutions are looking abroad for candidates, and training opportunities for new leaders are being expanded. (See http://www.thes.co.uk)

Indian test grading scam - Exam papers from students at Chaudhary Charan Singh University in Uttar Pradesh, India, were being graded by unqualified reviewers, creating a huge scandal, reports Shailaja Neelakantan in The Chronicle of Higher Education. According to reports, the university’s registrar, B.L. Arya, sent 80,000 answer sheets to his son in Agra . Police raided the son’s home and found that students at levels equivalent to juniors and seniors in US high schools were grading the exams for a few rupees each. Students who learned of the arrests turned violent. No decision has been made about whether the students will have to retake the exams. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081704n.htm)

Accreditation collaboration in Asia –

Malaysia

and

China

have agreed to work together on a mutual accreditation program for tertiary students of both countries, according to a July 24^th article by Hoo Ban Khee in the Malaysian Star.

Malaysia

will establish a Malaysian Qualifications Agency to maintain a list of accredited courses and colleges. One motivation is to promote the attraction of more Chinese students to Malaysian educational facilities, focusing on regions in mid-west

China

. Currently some 10,000 Chinese students are hosted in

Malaysia

. (See http://thestar.com.my)

China

enhances manufacturing capability – Raising the bar for competitors around the world, China is shifting its manufacturing resources to increasingly sophisticated goods such as auto parts. According to an article in the August 1^st Wall Street Journal by Andrew Batson, detractors have previously concluded that the precision engineering required for the best parts was beyond the reach of inexperienced Chinese companies and their low-cost workers. But quality has improved so much that major Western auto makers like Volkswagen and Daimler Chrysler are planning to buy billions of dollars of Chinese-made components such as brakes, fuel pumps, wheels and steering systems. Such gains show how China continues to evolve as a manufacturer, posing new challenges for rivals in the US , Japan and Europe . (See http://www.wsj.com)

2 - US developments

NASA chief blasts science advisors – NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has read the riot act to the outside scientists who advise him, accusing them of thinking more of themselves and their research than the agency’s mission. According to an article in the August 25^th Science by Andrew Lawler, these harsh comments came on the heels of the resignation of three distinguished scientists from the NASA Advisory Council, two of whom questioned Griffin’s plan to dramatically scale back a host of science projects. A major disagreement is over President Bush’s plans to send humans back to the moon and to Mars, and the resulting need to scale back robotic efforts. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)

NSF awards $75.3 million for five new engineering research centers – The US National Science Foundation has awarded major funding for five new Engineering Research Centers that will develop cross-disciplinary research programs to advance technologies that address major societal problems and provide the basis for new industries. The partnerships will pursue breakthroughs in synthetic biology, fluid power, air monitoring, drug manufacturing, and technologies for older adults and people with disabilities. The new centers are Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC), Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT), Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CEFP), Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment (MIRTHE), and Engineering Research Center for Structured Organic Composite (C-SOC). (See http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=107939)

US loosens policy on ties to UNESCO – The US government has withdrawn restrictions it placed a year ago on contact between US citizens and UNESCO, according to an article in the August 18^th Science by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee. In May 2005 the

Ambassador to UNESCO sent a memo to the UNESCO Director General asking the organization to consult US officials before partnering with anybody in the

or planning any

events. That directive was effectively retracted last month by a memo that said that the

government merely wants to stay informed about contacts between UNESCO and US entities. US scientific societies were relieved by the move, which they say should help restore free exchange between US researchers and the international body. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)

Congress working on bill to maintain US lead in science – A small group of congressional staffers is at work in Washington this summer on legislation that could influence science spending for years to come, according to an article in the August 18^th Science by Jeffrey Meyers. The aim is to develop legislation that would show the public that the nation’s leaders have a long range plan of action on

competitiveness. The legislation draws upon several recent efforts at examining

science and technology, including the National Academies’ “Rising Above the Gathering Storm”. Various proposals have been put forth to expand existing research and education activities at several agencies and set up new programs, but the current effort is the consolidation of all such efforts into a single bill. There is concern, however, that calls for increased spending in this area are a sticking point for the President and the Republican Party, who have pledged to reduce the federal deficit and shrink government. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)

Federal panel on higher education draft report - Last fall US Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings set up a Commission on the Future of Higher Education. After several draft reports that evoked the wrath of many educators, that commission recently approved a final draft report, with only one dissenting vote. The report, which includes numerous recommendations, is designed to improve access, accountability and competitiveness in US colleges and universities. Many of the large higher education associations issued statements which were both supportive of some aspects of the report and critical of others. David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, and a member of the Commission, was the one dissenting vote, stating that he could not support its homogenized view of higher education. The report was written by Kelly Field in The Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081101n.htm)

Rallying behind open access - A group of provosts from twenty-five major research universities wrote an open letter in support of open access to research findings. This came within the context of the US Congress’s consideration of the “Federal Public Research Access Act,’’ which would require federal agencies to make publicly accessible the research results from their funded projects within six months of initial publication. Commercial publishers and scholarly associations which publish journals are not happy with this increased pressure toward open access, reports Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed. But the provosts wanted to make the point that the interests of scholars do not necessarily coincide with those of commercial interests and to refocus the debate on the topic. (See http://insidehighered/com/news/2006/07/28/provosts)

Yahoo stocks up with academics – Hoping to overtake its rivals such as Google, Yahoo is hiring top notch economists and other researchers to tackle some of its biggest challenges. According to an article in the August 25^th Wall Street Journal by Kevin Delaney, Yahoo’s goal is to enhance its ability to record what millions of consumers do each day and to study how the company’s web services affect their behavior. Internet companies, which have largely lacked the systems and focus to mine data for research purposes, are now viewing that ability as a key competitive pursuit. Web operations are data-rich lands where internet companies can observe in real-time the behavior of millions of consumers in varied marketplaces. Researchers believe that collating web activity can be used to target Internet advertising and to predict consumer activities. One concern to collecting and analyzing such data is customer privacy, as was illustrated this summer when AOL inadvertently released a slew of information relating to user’s search queries. (See http://www.wsj.com)

backs off increased restrictions on foreign scientists - The US Defense Department has backed away from the stringent requirements it proposed last year, restricting even further the access that foreign researchers could have to sensitive technologies in university labs. After being hit with dozens of letters of protests from universities, writes Jeffrey Brainard in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Defense said it would instead add to its research contracts a reminder to obey Defense and Commerce Department regulations. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081501n.htm)

Technological literacy in the US – A newly released study from the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council indicates that the technological literacy of the

population is not well measured. The report, “Technological Literacy of US Population Not Well-Assessed; Additional Surveys Needed”, states that governments and the private sector should develop tests and surveys to measure American’s knowledge of technology, how they use it in their daily lives, and their ability to make informed decisions on issues involving technology. Data on technological literacy could allow policymakers to better respond to people’s concerns about technology, and help educators improve technology-related curricula and teacher’s education. (See http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11691)

NSF wants PIs to mentor their postdocs – US funding agencies have traditionally steered clear of micromanaging the relationship between principal investigators and their postdocs, according to an article in the August 11^thScience by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee. Some postdocs say this hands-off policy encourages PIs to treat them as skilled laborers rather than apprentice scientists. The US National Science Foundation has taken a small step to addressing such concerns with a directive aimed at getting scientists to take their mentoring roles more seriously. A letter from NSF’s geosciences directorate asks grantees and grant applicants to spell out their mentoring activities in both grant proposals and in annual and final reports. The goal is to make sure that postdocs acquire vital skills such as grant writing, lab management, research ethics, and teaching at the same time that they are advancing the frontiers of science. (See http://www.sciencemag.org)

U of Texas $2.56-billion for science and technology - The US National Academy of Science report, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing American for a Brighter Economic Future,” is cited by University of Texas officials as part of the impetus for a plan for the University of Texas System to spend $2.56 billion on science and medical research, reports Karin Fischer in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The money will enable the system to expand its research space by 30%, to undertake 44 capital construction projects, and to spend $80.4 million for a new engineering research building at the University of Texas at Arlington . The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Texas at Austin will receive the most money. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081104n.htm)

New engineering director at NSF – Richard O. Buckius has been named to head the Engineering Directorate at the US National Science Foundation. An expert in thermal sciences, he has been professor of mechanical engineering and is former head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his academic degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of California , Berkeley . At NSF he previously served as head of the Thermal Systems and Engineering Program and the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems, then acting assistant director for engineering. (See http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=107926)

3 - Technology

U of California system joins book scanning project - Google’s controversial project to digitize all the books of the world in full text took another giant step forward when the University of California system agreed to participate, giving access even to books still protected by copyright, reported Jeffrey Young in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Two major lawsuits are pending, challenging Google’s right to scan copyrighted materials, even though Google claims it will allow only excerpts to be offered unless publishers agree. (See http://chronicle.com/free/2006/08/2006080901t.htm)

4 - Students, faculty, education

Mondialogo Engineering Award second round – The first round of the Mondialogo Engineering Award (2004-05) brought together over 1700 young engineers from 79 countries in 111 teams. The overall goal of the Award program, a DaimlerChrysler-UNESCO partnership, is to promote intercultural dialogue among young people around the world. Teams of engineering students in universities in developing and developed countries cooperate in the design, production and presentation of project proposals that address basic needs in developing countries, focusing on poverty eradication, sustainable development, and the other UN Millennium Development Goals. (See http://www.mondialogo.org)

College Board broadens its push into the classroom – The developer of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the College Board, is broadening its activities to reach deeply into high school and even middle school classrooms nationwide. According to an article by Karen Arenson in the August 16^th New York Times, the board is marketing new products such as English and math curriculums for grades 6 through 12. In November it will open a new institute for principals. While it says it is eager to bring new rigor to education, it appears that the board is also being driven by competition from the ACT in college admissions testing. And some colleges are making the SAT optional. Critics of the new activities are concerned that the entry of the board into middle and high schools will bring too much standardization of curriculum and further promote a culture of testing. (See http://www.nytimes.com)

To recruit and advance women in science and engineering – The National Academies have released a new study, published as “To Recruit and Advance: Women Students and Faculty in US Science and Engineering”. The book identifies and discusses better practices for recruitment, retention and promotion for women scientists and engineers in academia – describing actions actually taken by universities to improve the situation for women. (See http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11624.html)

New ideas for PhD education - A recent meeting of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) featured a discussion of some new models of doctoral education. One example was Antioch ’s program in leadership and change, a non-residential program. Students are all well over the usual age for doctoral students (85% are over 40 years old). They are attracted to doctoral studies by opportunities to take their life learning to another level and to conduct serious research, not by increased earning opportunities. The one familiar aspect of this program is the dissertation requirement which maps onto more tradition programs. Another approach is for two or more institutions to collaborate in doctoral programs, across state lines if necessary, but always insisting on real collaboration, down to ensuring that students have equivalent parking rights on both campuses. An example of this is the Virginia Tech and Wake Forest program in biomedical engineering. Speakers were enthusiastic about these new ideas, although there was some discussion about how accreditation could be a problem. Scott Jaschik reported for Inside Higher Ed. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/18/grad)

Princeton stands alone in

News rankings - After being tied for three years with Harvard University for first place in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of US colleges and universities, Princeton University finally broke away and claimed the spot alone. Harvard came in second, followed by Yale, with the California Institute of Technology, MIT, and Stanford tied for fourth. The University of California at Berkeley ranked first in public universities, with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and the University of Virginia tied for second. The publication of these rankings brought about expected criticism, writes Eric Hoover in The Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006081803n.htm)

Canadian universities bow out of ranking scheme - Eleven Canadian universities, including the University of Toronto , sent a letter to Maclean’s to announce that they would not take part in the magazine’s university rankings. They explained that their reservations about Maclean’s methodology had been expressed repeatedly in past years, but had been ignored. In light of that, the institutions had declined to participate. The letter, dated August 14, was published on the University of Toronto website. (See http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/060814-2502.asp)

Intro to study abroad - A new form of study abroad aims at whetting students’ appetite for international travel by offering two week programs to incoming first year students. According to staff at Michigan State University , the short programs overcome students’ fears about going overseas, thus easing their decision to spend an entire term abroad. The first class at Michigan State to participate in these programs will graduate in 2007. On average 28% of MSU undergraduates study abroad. For this class, many of whom went on a pre-first year trip to Quebec , 70% of the students went abroad during their undergraduate career, writes Elia Powers in Inside Higher Ed. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/28/abroad)

Chaos in the classroom in China –

China

’s embrace of market forces has upturned the provision of public services, including higher education, according to an article in the August 12^th The Economist. Most schools and colleges are still funded by the government, but they now operate much more like businesses, allowed to generate extra revenue and to raise student fees. Many have started locally run schools of their own run as expensive private schools for students who can afford high fees. Chinese households now provide 18% of the revenue of schools and colleges, up from 4.4% in 1991. At every level the rich now have much better access to good education than the less well-off. The Ministry of Education is now trying to manage the rapid growth of the hybrid state-private facilities. (See http://www.economist.com)

International rebound - The US Council of Graduate Studies recently released data that show continued sharp increases in the number of foreign graduate students who have applied to study in the US and in the number of offers of admissions, reports Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed. Later in the fall more accurate numbers of foreign students actually enrolled will be available, but for now, it appears that the foreign graduate school population will grow. Large increases were seen from India and China , while numbers fell from the Middle Eastern countries. Engineering programs saw an increase of 19% in the number of applications from 2005 to 2006, with offers of admission increasing 26%. But even with these positive numbers, the total number of foreign graduate students in 2006 is not likely to reach the levels seen in 2003. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/09/intl)

ABET seeks comments on dual-level accreditation – Accreditation of a program at both the bachelor’s and master’s level at a given institution is currently prohibited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. A long standing discussion of whether this prohibition should be removed in order to promote the master’s degree as the first professional degree has been heightened by a recommendation in the recent National Academy of Engineering “Engineer of 2020” report, which states that the bachelor’s degree should be considered as a pre-engineering degree rather than the first professional degree. Opponents of changing the definition argue that such a change would provide yet another roadblock in the

engineering pipeline. ABET will not be a driver in this discussion, but will be responsive to its constituencies, the 28 professional societies which comprise it and the academic institutions that seek its accreditation. ABET has invited comments on the issue of whether the EAC prohibition on dual level accreditation should be removed, and asks that they be sent to current ABET President Richard Seagrave at seagrave@iastste.edu.

Student plagiarism continues to stir controversy at Ohio U – A lack of attribution in copying material from previous theses has led Ohio University to take action against 39 mechanical engineering students, 36 of them from abroad. Professors are under fire for not catching missteps of students they were supervising. According to an article by Robert Tomsho in the August 15^th Wall Street Journal, the mechanical engineering department’s longtime chairman has stepped down, and a second professor has been told he will lose his job. A faculty review committee has concluded that plagiarism in the department has been “rampant and flagrant” for years, adding that “there can not be any tolerance of individuals who participate in this serious misconduct”. No evidence has surfaced that the accused students doctored lab data or fraudulently claimed others’ discoveries as their own; the alleged plagiarism was found in the “literature review” sections of theses. The affair raises questions about how well US universities are teaching the fundamentals of research to foreign students, who have become an important source of tuition dollars and research talent in engineering. International students accounted for 43% of master’s degrees and 59% of doctoral degrees in engineering awarded in the US in 2005. (See http://www.wsj.com)

Ohio U hearings on plagiarism - The plagiarism scandal that has plagued the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University continues to simmer, reports Paula Wasley in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In June, 37 engineering graduates were notified that they had three choices: to forfeit their degrees; to ask to rewrite or correct part of their theses; or to challenge the findings of plagiarism in front of a university committee. Of those 37, 25 responded, mostly asking to revise. Now the current dean of the Russ College has sent an additional letter saying that the graduates were obligated to appear before a university panel who will decide whether they should have the option to rewrite or whether more severe sanctions might be imposed. Deliberation is on-going on how to treat the faculty who were involved as advisors to the theses. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/08/2006082405n.htm)

Germany alarmed at lack of engineers – For centuries,

Germany

has led the world in technological prowess. But, according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor by Isabelle de Pommereau, young Germans have dramatically turned away from engineering, and now the country needs 18,000 engineers. Alarmed that this gap could endanger

Germany

’s engineering creativity, businesses are trying to stem the tide by launching a publicity campaign to make engineering sound like fun. A group of 80 businesses, universities and research institutes is sponsoring school projects, giving awards to youths making special scientific discoveries, awarding scholarships, helping engineering students find internships, and helping young researchers commercialize their inventions. (See http://ww.csmonitor.com)

Out of visas, again – Currently the US dispenses 65,000 H1-b visas annually to foreign professionals who work in fields where enough qualified Americans are not available, such as engineering, biotechnology and computer science. And once the regular cap is exhausted, the US makes available an additional 20,000 visas only for foreigners who have graduated from an American university with a master’s degree or above. According to an article in the August 2^nd Wall Street Journal, in nine of the past 11 years, that cap has been reached before the end of the fiscal year. And this year, as in the previous two, it was reached before the fiscal year had even begun. Congress has long played politics with these caps, giving in to Big Labor and other protectionists who claim that US businesses hire foreign workers only because they can be paid less. But the high-tech companies that hire such professionals point out that they must be paid prevailing wages, and that they are more expensive to hire due to cumbersome immigration and labor rules. The companies say they need such foreign workers because too few Americans graduate with advanced degrees in math and science. (See http://www.wsj.com)

Putting that degree to work - Only 40% of people who have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, math or computer science went on to earn an additional university degree, according to a report from the US National Science Foundation. This compares with 60% of physical science graduates, and 57% of life science graduates. This might point to the value of the baccalaureate degree in engineering, math or computer science. Two thirds of those with only baccalaureate engineering or science degrees believed that their current job was related to that degree, indicating the broad variety of ways in which the degrees are applicable. Information in this report comes from an NSF survey which usually obtains around 100,000 responses, writes David Epstein in Inside Higher Ed. (See http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/02/nsf)

Journal of Engineering Education – The July 2006 issue of this ASEE sponsored journal features seven articles on engineering education research, plus a guest editorial by 2006-07 ASEE President David Wormley. The articles include discussions on student attitudes towards cheating, experimental learning environments, assessment of K-12 teachers’ perceptions on engineers, and engineering problem solving. In addition, the editor of the Journal, Dr. Jack R. Lohmann of Georgia Institute of Technology, has prepared and distributed a comprehensive 2005 Annual Report. The report presents the JEE strategic plan for 2005-10, which focuses it as an archival record of scholarly research on engineering education. It also lists seven initiatives, including special issues, broad community involvement, quality journal operations, a research practice series, global collaborations, e-technologies in scholarly discourse, and planning for an international research conference. (See http://www.asee.org)

IEEE Transactions on Education – The August 2006 volume contains 11 papers, including descriptions of innovative laboratory courses, an active methodology for teaching, project based learning, enhanced classroom interactivity, and attraction of women to electrical engineering. (See http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/es)

Chemical Engineering Education – The Summer 2006 volume features 13 articles, including discussions of enhancing the undergraduate computing experience, the role of industrial training in education, interactive learning, and senior lab experiments. Also included is an article on chemical engineering at the University of Sherbrooke . (See http://cee.che.ufl.edu/index.html)

7 – Meetings

National Academies meeting on competitiveness – The National Academies will convene leaders of industry, government, research, and education from around the country on September 28^th to share knowledge and discuss ways to advance US competitiveness. They will focus on education, research and innovation, action areas identified in the report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm”. (See http://www.nationalacademies.org/gatheringstorm)

NAE workshop on offshoring of engineering – The National Academy of Engineering will host a free, public workshop on engineering offshoring in Washington on October 24-25, 2006. The workshop will feature talks by national engineering leaders from industry and academia, a review of trends in engineering offshoring in several key industries, and an examination of implications for the engineering profession, workforce, education, and management. (See http://www.nae.edu/nae/engecocom.nsf/weblinks/PGIS-6SKKDZ?OpenDocument)

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INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST

CONTENTS

1 - International developments

2 - US developments

3 - Technology

4 - Students, faculty, education

1 - International developments

2 - US developments

3 - Technology

4 - Students, faculty, education