INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION DIGEST

March 2004

Copyright © 2004 World Expertise LLC – All rights reserved

A periodic electronic newsletter for engineering education leaders,

edited by Russel C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E., with Bethany S. Oberst, Ph.D.

CONTENTS

1 - International developments

2 - US developments

3 - Distance education, technology

4 - Students, faculty, education

5 – Employment

6 – Journals

7 – Meetings

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1 - International developments

Report on Arab world science and research finds significant failings – In an extensive report, Daniel del Castillo, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, looks at the Arab world and its legacy in research.  Over a thousand years ago the Arab world was the center of scientific research, and gave civilization such great gifts as algebra and medical knowledge.  Now, however, all that is lost.  Funding of science, scientific research and universities is minimal, cronyism controls leadership selection, promotion is no longer based on merit, students are unprepared for university studies, lab equipment is outmoded, computers in very short supply, and many universities are too young to have a tradition of excellence.  Some bright spots shine through, however.  A new Arab Science Foundation will distribute competitive research grants to Arab scientists from the region, private higher education is beginning to create competition to complacent public universities, and the need for accreditation and constructive self-assessment is beginning to be felt.  Still, the vast expanse that divides the centuries old tradition of scientific knowledge and inquiry from the desert of today’s programs will take a long time to diminish.  (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i26/26a03601.htm)

  Caught in the crossfire – The US effort at rebuilding Iraq is the largest rebuilding since the Marshall Plan after World War II, according to an article by Nelson Schwartz in the March 8th issue of Fortune. For Bechtel, Haliburton, and other American companies that have been fired on by rebels, sniped at by politicians, and sabotaged by looters, it is also the most dangerous. This article describes several of the major rebuilding efforts currently underway, including oil refineries, electric power, and telephone communications. It describes the relative safety and comfort of the ‘green zone’, a well protected area of Baghdad where many top managers are stationed, as well as the dangerous, uncomfortable work areas throughout the country where most US construction engineers are working. Several case studies are included – including a quote from one of the engineers working on restoring phone service: “I worry about an attack and the possibility that what we’ve worked so hard to repair could be destroyed”. (See http://www.fortune.com)

  Foreign grad student applications down across US – A survey of over 500 US colleges and universities showed that the number of foreign graduate students applying to come to the US has declined over the past year, with the most significant declines involving Chinese students.  Universities claim that the US is seen as unwelcoming, because of the difficult in getting visas.  Nearly half the reporting institutions indicated a decline in international graduate applications, according to Jeffrey Selingo, reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education.  The five associations which produced the report recommended that the system be improved to decrease delays, and that positive steps be taken to encourage overseas visitors who have legitimate reasons for coming to the US.  The report at http://www.nafsa.org/content/PublicPolicy/FortheMedia/appsjtsurvey.pdf. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004022603n.htm)  A similar study, limited to graduate students, revealed declines of applications from China of 76%, and from India of 58%, according to Michael Arnone of the Chronicle of Higher Education.  In addition, international students taking the Graduate Record Examination have declined.  This report is available at http://www.cgsnet.org/pdf/CGS_PR_IntlSurvey.pdf. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004030403n.htm)

  Japan undertakes massive reform of higher education – Starting in April, Japan ’s national universities will be given their freedom from much of the government control of the past.  In return, universities have promised to improve their graduate programs according to a six year plan filed with the Education Ministry, writes Alan Brender for the Chronicle of Higher Education. The trade-offs are multiple: no more jobs for life for faculty, less government oversight of minute details, more merit-based rewards, less shelter from competition.  In light of declining numbers of traditional college-going students, and against the background of a fourteen year economic crisis, the sweeping changes are making faculty and administrators nervous.  There is a fear of eventual budget cuts and re-allocation of funds. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i27/27a03901.htm)

  French approve ban on religious attire – The French Senate has given overwhelming approval to a law banning Muslim head scarves as well as other religious apparel from the nation’s classrooms, according to an article by Keith Richburg in the March 4th Washington Post. The measure has widespread public support among French citizens, but has enraged Muslims around the world and sparked demonstrations in several countries. French President Chirac called for the legislation to confront what he called a dangerous and growing extremist challenge to France ’s long-established tradition of secularism. Critics of the law have predicted unintended consequences such as Muslim girls dropping out of school or transferring to Muslim schools, and damaging France ’s relations with its 5 million Muslim residents and the Islamic world at large. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com)

  US share of international students has fallen – Allan E. Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education (USA) stated that the US share of the total of international students has fallen from 40% ten years ago to 30% today.  This fact was cited by Burton Bollag of the Chronicle of Higher Education in an article about Australian gains in the numbers of international students selecting his country for their post-secondary studies.  Australia last year saw a 20% increase of Chinese students, a 27% increase in Indian students, and a 19% increase in South Korean students, compared with US figures of +2%, +12% and +5%. The article noted the difference in absolute numbers: in academic year 2003, Australia enrolled approximately 167,000 foreign students, while the US had 586,323.  International educators attribute the growth in Australia to a long-standing recruiting effort and visa entry policies that are increasingly seen as more user-friendly than those in the US .  (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004030903n.htm)

  Public supports French researchers in strike for increased funding – French researchers have voted overwhelmingly to quit their administrative responsibilities in an attempt to force the French government to restore funding.  The budget cuts, stretching out over several years, are part of a response by France to meet the budget-deficit requirements it accepted as a member of the euro-zone.  Polls indicate that over 80% of the French public supports the researchers, who have claimed that their work is on the verge of collapse.  Aisha Labi, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, says that the government has made some moves which might be seen as concessions. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004031006n.htm)

  Cambridge high-tech industry heats up – Europe’s nearest equivalent to Silicon Valley, the area around Cambridge University in the UK, is heating up again after the technology bust, according to an article in the February 19th Economist. Technology and entrepreneurs are again active, and venture capitalists, managers, specialist lawyers, and salesmen are back in force. The cluster of firms in the area typically designs chips, which are then made abroad in places like Taiwan – focusing on ideas rather than goods. (See http://www.economist.com)  

  US government prevents medical group from attending Cuba conference – At the very last minute the US Treasury Department effectively withdrew permission for a group of medical professionals and scholars to attend an international conference in Havana on brain injury.  The Office of Foreign Assets Control is the agency of the Treasury Department that controls access to Cuba .  In this case OFAC claimed that the conference was not organized by an international organization, but merely endorsed by one, thus justifying their decision to require each potential participant to submit a resume and a statement describing the rationale for attending the meeting.  This requirement was imposed just as the conference got underway. Burton Bollag wrote this article for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004031202n.htm)

  Oxford considers increasing revenues through foreign enrollments – According to an internal document, the University of Oxford (UK) is considering restructuring its admissions policies in the interest of generating more tuition income.  The plan would call for an increase of foreign students (outside of the EU), who would pay more, and a decrease in UK and EU students, whose cost of education would be capped at $5400 per year by recently revised national legislation.  UK universities are at a competitive disadvantage when compared to top-tier US institutions because they do not have the huge endowments which afford greater financial flexibility. The university refuses to respond to the stories that are circulating about these proposals, although the Times Higher Education Supplement has commented on the issues in print, according to Aisha Labi, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004031207n.htm)

 

2 - US developments

US White House attacked for distortion of scientific information – Anne Marie Borrego, writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, reports that sixty prominent scholars have accused the US White House of distorting information which is opposed to its own agenda.  The statement accompanied a report entitled “Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation into the Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science,” in which the White House is accused of appointing unqualified people to important policy post and censoring reports.  John H. Marburger III, representing the While House Office of Science and Technology Policy, rejected the complaints.  (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004021904n.htm)

  US Council on Bioethics critiqued for distorting information – The US President’s Council on Bioethics was again attacked for distorting information in its last two reports, apparently to make it more consistent with the Bush administration’s opposition to stem cell research.  Elizabeth H. Blackburn, a biochemist recently dismissed from the council, and Janet Rowley, an oncologist who remains on the council, authored the on-line critique (http://www.plosbiology.org/plosonline/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0020116).  The authors believed it important to put on record their scientific objections to some of the wording and approaches of reports coming out of the Council.   (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004030801n.htm)

  New system for routing US foreign aid – The United States is making a fundamental overhaul of its assistance to developing nations, according to an article by Christopher Marquis in the February 22nd New York Times. To qualify for funds in the future countries must demonstrate, in President Bush’s words, that they are “ruling justly, investing in their people, and establishing economic freedom”. The President has promised that aid grants under the new Millenium Challenge Account will total $5-billion annually by 2008 – an amount that if achieved would nearly double the amount of American aid that goes to promote development in poor countries, but would represent only a 9% increase in overall foreign aid. Critics of the new Account process are warning that it may produce inequities, handsomely rewarding a handful of nations while leaving some of the most economically needy countries to vie for much smaller amounts of traditional aid. The US Congress typically has had a distaste for foreign aid, but that has eased greatly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks which highlighted the dangers posed by weak and neglected states. (See http://www.nytimes.com)  

Chemical Society resumes publication of papers from embargoed nations –The American Chemical Society has decided to re-commence publishing scientific papers written by scholars from embargoed countries such as Cuba , Iraq and Sudan .  It had temporarily suspended publication in fall of 2003 under orders from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, who interpret the act of editing a paper as providing a service to a citizen of an outlawed country.  After a careful review of opinions and interpretations, the ACS has decided that they are in a defensible position should they be challenged.  They believe that it is against the advancement of science to prevent scholars from engaging in the world wide activity of writing and publishing.  This article was written by Lila Guterman for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004021902n.htm)

  Court rules colleges can bar illegal immigrants – A federal judge ruled that colleges may deny admission to students who are living in the US illegally.  However, other parts of the lawsuit brought by plaintiffs against seven public colleges and universities in Virginia can stand, meaning that the institutions must still defend their process for determining the immigration status of applicants.  The lawsuit came about when Virginia ’s attorney general, Jerry Kilgore, advised colleges in 2002 not to admit illegal immigrants and to report such applicants to federal authorities.  The plaintiffs argue that children brought to the US by their parents at a young age should not have the right to a college education withheld because of their parents’ illegal status, writes Sara Hebel for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004022701n.htm)

Education initiative facing protests – Several states and their legislative representatives are so unhappy with President Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ school improvement law that they are asking Congress to amend or repeal it, according to an article by Sam Dillon in the March 8th New York Times. Liberal Democrats and states’ rights Republicans see the law as a cumbersome federal intrusion on local schools. President Bush, in campaign rhetoric, is portraying the law as one of his major domestic achievements, but the outpouring of objections has forced White House and the Department of Education officials to travel the country putting out brush fires. (See http://www.nytimes.com) 

US Fed Chair Greenspan supports increased spending on education – Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, gave a talk highlighting the need for more spending on education in order to mitigate the economic changes of a new economy.  Speaking in Omaha , Nebraska , Greenspan said that education and job skills were more important than attempts to protect jobs through legislation.  His remarks came in the context of an economic recovery which has not seen the creation of new jobs usually identified with growth.  While some supported Greenspan’s comments, other pointed out that he did not indicate where the money should come from to fund such education initiatives, writes Nell Henderson on February 21, 2004, in the Washington Post. (See http://washingtonpost.com)

US Congress faults agencies for visa delays – Members of the US Congress recently chastised the State Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security for unnecessary delays in the processing of visas for students and scholars applying to study science in the US .  The delays are particularly pronounced for those whose area study appears on a Technology Alert List.  This report was written for the Chronicle of Higher Education by Michael Arnone.  (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004022602n.htm)

Hispanic nation – The cover story in the March 15th issue of Business Week, written by Brian Grow, points out that Hispanics are an immigrant group in the US like no other. Their numbers are huge, and they are challenging old assumptions about assimilation. They are a major force in the US economy, but in many ways they are a world apart. Of all children under 18, Latinos are 61% in San Antonio , 53% in Los Angeles , 39% in Miami , and 36% in Houston . But they keep their roots in their home countries; for example Mexican workers in the US sent home about $13-billion last year, more than total direct investment. Experts see three possible scenarios for Hispanics in the US : melting in, the path that earlier immigrant groups followed; acculturization, blending their own and the US culture and speaking both languages; and Mexifornia, many remaining in Spanish speaking enclaves and setting cultural and political agendas there. (See http://www.businessweek.com)  

US voters support higher education in California – California voters approved three bills which, taken together, will finance major construction projects for higher education, cover budget deficits which threatened to cause further cuts in higher education, and force the governor to balance the state budget in the future.  According to Sara Hebel of the Chronicle of Higher Education, opponents of the bills said that the state should not take on more debt.  (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004030302n.htm)

 

3 - Distance education, technology

The Net’s second superpower – China will soon be No. 1 in Web users, according to an article by Bruce Einhorn in the March 15th issue of Business week. China ’s portals are expanding, and entrepreneurs are launching e-tailing, mobile, and gaming services. So far the Internet has been dominated by a single country, the US , but now China has the potential to become the second major power of the Digital Age. By 2006 it is expected to have more people on the Net, more broadband subscribers, and more mobile phone customers than any other nation on earth. While sheer size is one obvious reason for China ’s growth in this area, the policies of the Chinese government are just as important. Beijing is trying to set the standards for several key Web technologies that may let the country’s manufacturers become significant players around the world. (See http://www.businessweek.com)

Internet providers sue spammers – Four major Internet providers have filed lawsuits meant to shut down a number of leading senders of unsolicited junk e-mail, according to an article in the March 11th New York Times by Saul Hansell. The four companies – America Online, Earthlink, Yahoo and Microsoft – filed suits in federal courts in their home states against different groups of suspected spammers. But a legal expert says that such suits are not likely to be very effective. ISP providers have been able to sue spammers for eight years, with little impact – in February 62% of all e-mail was spam. The ISP providers, though, hope that through these lawsuits they can gain the right to subpoena records of banks, telephone companies and others that can help identify those sending the spam. (See http://www.nytimes.com)  

Signs of water on Mars pictured by NASA rover – The NASA Mars rover has obtained evidence that water once existed on Mars.  From examination of photos sent back to earth from this latest planet probe, scientists have detected jarosite, which is formed by water. This water could have provided an environment that supported life.  According to Richard Monastersky, reporting for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Opportunity , as the Mars rover is called, landed in a crater which gives it an excellent view of important rock formations.  Findings have already begun to help scientists plan for a subsequent mission to Mars which would be equipped to bring back rocks to study on earth.  (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/03/2004030304n.htm)

The Web’s new outlet – Internet users who want high speed access currently have two choices: the local phone company, or the cable operator. But according to Ken Brown writing in the March 2nd Wall Street Journal, another choice may be emerging – high speed Internet access over power lines. The service promises lower prices and more convenience – consumers will be able to tap into the Internet anywhere they have an electrical outlet in the house. The idea of using power lines to send Internet signals has been around for years. It is based on the fact that electricity travels at a far lower frequency than the Internet signal, so the two generally do not interfere. A pivotal breakthrough two years ago, when the industry improved the speed and lowered the price of the modem that plugs into wall sockets thanks to advances in semiconductor chips, has now made the system economically viable. (See http://www.wsj.com)  

Leader proposes new approach to technology transfer – A medievalist is shaking up technology transfer at the University of California Santa Cruz by operating on the principle that relationships, not profits, are the preferred outcome of discovery and commercialization in an educational setting.  And he is as willing to work with an historian as he is with a chemist.  Gerald Barnett is promoting Second Generation Technology Transfer (2G) as an alternative to more traditional systems of strict and exclusive licensing of ideas coming out of academic labs.  Most systems are built to ensure that the rare, big money earning patent doesn’t slip away. Barnett believes that having companies pay low licensing fees for nonexclusive rights will encourage them to work more closely with the university, its researchers and its students in a win-win arrangement, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education written by Goldie Blumenstyk. (See http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i27/27a02701.htm)

Desert crossing robots fail – The Pentagon, under a mandate from Congress to save lives by turning to unmanned combat vehicles, has turned to free market capitalism to stimulate robot innovation. According an article in the March 8th New York Times by John Markoff, a $1-million prize was offered to the creators of the first self-guided vehicle to find its way along a programmed course from Barstow , California , to near Las Vegas . More than a dozen competitors designed motorcycles, pickups, sport utility vehicles, Hummers and other all-terrain vehicles packed with computers and sensors. But according to a March 14th report by Kimberly Edds in the Washington Post, none of the 14 entrants made it through the tough 142 mile route. A spokesperson for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency expressed regret that there was no winner in the competition, but said that what was important was the innovative technology that was developed by the competitors. (See http://www.nytimes.com, and http://www.washingtonpost.com) 

 

4 - Students, faculty, education

Women in engineering faculty positions remain rare – The results of a recent national study, reported on in the March 2004 issue of Engineering Times, indicate that despite more women engineering students there is still a lack of women in engineering faculty positions. According to ‘A National Analysis of Diversity in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities’, women science and engineering professors range from 3% to 15% at the top 50 departments – and not many of these are tenured or tenure track. The report, based on a 2002 survey from the University of Oklahoma, reports that engineering faculties at the top 50 schools have the following percentages of women faculty members: chemical 10.5%, civil 9.8%, electrical 6.5%, and mechanical 6.7%. (See http://www.nspe.org)

Microsoft talks up computing as a career – The number of students majoring in computer science is falling, according to an article by Steve Lohr in the March 1st New York Times. So Bill Gates has gone on a campaign tour, trying to reinvigorate the flow of students into his field – making visits to several elite universities to tell students that they could still make a good living in America , even as the nation’s industry is sending some jobs such as computer programming abroad. Gates’ message was that because of ever-faster machines, improved software and the accumulated wisdom of decades of research, computer science is on the cusp of genuine breakthroughs in areas like speech recognition, artificial intelligence, and machine-to-machine communication. He scoffed at the notion, advanced by some, that the computer industry was a mature business of waning opportunity. (See http://www.nytimes.com)

Marketing of higher education – An article in the March issue of ASEE’s Prism by Alice Daniel reviews what happens when a life of the mind meets the bottom line in higher education. Citing a new book on the effects of marketing on higher education, ‘Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line’ by David Kirp, the article discusses how schools sell themselves – for example by vying to be near the top of the annual US News and World Report survey. Kirp does not deny that schools have to sell themselves, but he believes the demand should be based on something substantive. His ultimate question is, “Can the public be persuaded that universities represent something as ineffable as the common good – more specifically, that higher education contributes to the development of knowledge and responsible citizens, encourages social cohesion, promotes and spreads knowledge, increases social mobility, and stimulates the economy”. (See http://www.asee.org/prism) 

Young inventors of the world unite - A University of Western Ontario student, frustrated by the lack of patent guidance for young inventors, has organized a network of like-minded collegians to address the problem. According to an article by Susan Karlin in the March 2004 issue of IEEE Spectrum, Anne Swift has established Young Inventors International (http://www.younginventorsinternational.com) to help folks under 35 to develop, patent, and market innovative ideas. The group now offers an array of workshops, newsletters, networking events, mentoring programs, an annual conference, and a fundraiser. It has 500 members in 20 countries and a division for professionals over 35 who serve as mentors. (See http://www.spectrum.ieee.org)

Brown University to study ties to slavery – Brown University ’s President, a great-granddaughter of slaves, has established a committee to examine the school’s historical ties to slavery and to debate whether the university should make amends. According to an article in the March 14th Washington Post, President Ruth Simmons is trying to have the school understand how the family for which the University is named interacted with the slave trade. She has appointed a group of 15 faculty members, students and administrators to study the issue and to recommend how the school and the country can ‘move on’ about its feelings on slavery. (See http://www.washingtonpost.com)

Civil engineers call for strengthened curriculum, field experience for faculty – The American Society of Civil Engineers released a report calling for a more rigorous curriculum for undergraduate students in civil engineering, as a response to increased global competition and the new technologies, writes Thomas Bartlett of the Chronicle of Higher Education.  The report also recommended that all faculty have field experience, and that students understand the policy implications of their work. The full report is available at http://www.asce.org/professional/educ/bodyofknowledge.cfm. (See http://chronicle.com/daily/2004/02/2004022504n.htm)

 

5 – Employment

[Editor’s note: The issue of offshoring of jobs has reached such a high profile that the newspapers, magazines and journals that we read are flooded with articles. Below we give you only a sampling, attempting to cover the major themes]

Software outsourcing – Will outsourcing hurt America ’s supremacy in software? In the Match 1 issue of Business Week, Stephen Baker and Manjeet Kripalani have written an extensive special report on various aspects of the issue as identified in interviews with software engineers in the US, India, Romania, and Bulgaria. The authors analyze the software ‘pyramid’, a breakdown of software jobs and their prospects, showing that not all programmers are created equal. They provide quantitative data on the number of software jobs being moved offshore by US companies, how salaries have fallen in vulnerable US job segments in the past two years, and how these trends are discouraging tech students. They also suggest three ways in which the US software industry can save itself and its workers from decline: improve programming, innovate new business models, and automate. (See http://businessweek.com)

Offshore outsourcing stirs national debate – The offshore outsourcing of engineering and other white-collar work is generating a great debate among engineering professionals and in national politics, according to an article by Danielle Boykin in the March 2004 issue of Engineering Times. As the US economy experiences a ‘jobless recovery’, many wonder if the loss and slow resurgence of jobs has been hampered by an increasing number of US companies outsourcing work to countries such as India, Russia, China and the Philippines – and by using H1-B and L-1 visas to import less expensive workers to the US from abroad. These trends have attracted the attention of legislators, who are proposing a variety of restrictive measures. (See http://www.nspe.org)

Is your job going abroad? – The cover story of the March 1st Time, written by Jyoti Thottam, explores how we got to where we are, and why short term pain might translate into long term gain. The article points out that outsourcing is accelerating, and quickly becoming the defining economic issue of the 2004 political campaign. The article provides quantitative data on job loss in the US (2.3 million jobs have vanished) and points out that the pain has not been equally spread – major losses in manufacturing, information services and the retail trade, but added jobs in education, health care, leisure, hospitality and financial activities. It projects that 3.3 million jobs are likely to leave the US by 2015, and identifies 11% of the US total of 14 million jobs that are at risk of being sent abroad – in areas such as telephone call centers, business and financial support, computer operators and data entry, paralegal and legal assistants, diagnostic support services, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll. (See http://www.time.com)

Expanding job aid gains support – The election-year uproar over the outsourcing of US jobs overseas is increasing pressure on the Bush administration to extend retraining aid to displaced service industry workers as well as to those in manufacturing, according to an article in the March 11th Wall Street Journal. The White House beat back such an effort two years ago, to expand the trade adjustment assistance program, but now is warming up to worker aid. US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has signaled greater openness to expansion of retraining aid in recent speeches, and President Bush has begun echoing support for trade development assistance in recent speeches. High tech industry representatives have begun meeting with Republican congressmen to build support in Congress for such expansion, and one lobbyist has warned that the administration needs to get in front of the issue or risk being run over in election year politics. (See http://www.wsj.com)  

Business coalition battles outsourcing backlash -  With overseas outsourcing a hot US election year issue, big business in quietly mounting an offensive against state and federal efforts to keep jobs at home and otherwise restrain globalization. Writing in the March 1st Wall Street Journal, Michael Schroeder reports that some of the best financed trade groups in the US have formed a coalition that would restrict foreign outsourcing by government contractors and limit visas for non-American workers with technology skills. The new Coalition for Economic Growth and American Jobs comprises about 200 trade groups – including the US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the American Bankers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Information Technology Association of America – as well as individual companies. Dozens of bills to protect US jobs have been introduced in state legislatures and Congress, alarming business. One target of the coalition’s lobbying is a bill that would require workers at telephone call centers to disclose their physical locations at the beginning of each call. (See http://www.wsj.com)

Globalization is creating US logistics jobs – Most economists maintain that globalization benefits the US as old-economy jobs that move abroad are replaced by better, higher paying jobs at home. But as described by Robert Matthews in a March 1st Wall Street Journal article, most Americans do not buy that argument. One example of the creation of new high paying jobs, however, is the growing field of logistics. The frenetic pace of global trade, coupled with outsourcing of manufacturing around the world, has transformed delivery into a complex engineering task. Companies need logistics professionals to untangle supply chains and to monitor shipping lanes and weather patterns. Their executives see a competitive advantage in fast and reliable delivery and potential for savings in squeezing the supply chain. (See http://www.wsj.com)  

 

6 – Journals  

IEEE Transactions on Education – The February 2004 issue contains some 20 papers on topics ranging from automated learning systems, to stand-alone laboratories, to innovative course approaches. One particularly interesting article, “From Classrooms to the Real Engineering World” by Zhiping Zhou, describes a novel training program at the Microelectronics Research Center at Georgia Tech. (See http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/es/)  

WFEO Ideas – The journal of the Committee on Education and Training of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations has published its December 2003 issue, containing some eleven articles on engineering education. Several papers summarize the 6th World Congress on Engineering Education held at Nashville , Tennessee last June in conjunction with the ASEE annual meeting. (See http://www.unesco.org/wfeo/cetinfopage.html)  

 

7 – Meetings

WEC 2004 – The 2004 World Engineers Convention, sponsored by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and by UNESCO, will be held in Shanghai , China , from 3-6 November 2004. Being planned and supported by various Chinese organizations, the meeting will focus on the central theme “Engineers shape the sustainable world”. (See http://www.wec2004.org/)

IGIP – The International Society for Engineering Education will hold its 2004 Symposium from 27 September to 1 October in Fribourg , Switzerland . Its theme is ‘Local Identity – Global Awareness’. Abstracts are due March 31st. (See http://www.eif.ch/symposium04)

FIE 2004 – The annual Frontiers in Education Conference will be held in Savannah , Georgia , from 20-23 October 2004. Its focus is ‘Expanding Educational Opportunities through Partnerships and Distance Learning’. (See http://www.fie-conference.org)

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