Transcript Challenges in 21 st Century Engineering Education

Challenges in 21st Century Engineering Education
Dr. Jonathan Bredow
Professor and Chair
Department of Electrical Engineering
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General (simplistic) view of many factors involved in
education (undergraduate)
Undergraduate
students
Industry needs
Grand Challenges/
Societal constraints
Leveling/
Extracurricular
Undergraduate
Program
Students not graduating in the
program
Research Needs
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Undergraduate students
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From Reference 3
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From Reference 3
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First Engineering Degrees
300
250
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China
150
C hina
J apan
S . Korea
US
UK
G ermany
100
Japan
50
US
19
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Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC
From Reference 1
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Undergraduate student attention items
• Outreach to develop the pool of recruits is critical
• Recruiting and retention are challenging
• Transfer student issues
• Focus on applications/systems
• Focus on “hands-on” and active learning
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Many needs in student development, beyond the
technical education
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Nano-Bio-Info
Large Complex Systems
An entire new life-science base
Astounding computation and storage capabilities
Globalization
Innovation
Leadership
Teamwork across disciplines, fields, nations and cultures
Experiential Learning: Conceive / Design / Implement / Operate.
Entrepreneurship
Product Development and Manufacturing
Sustainable Development
From Reference 1
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One of the major problems needing to be addressed
• US 15-year-olds ranked 27th out of 39
countries that participated in a 2003
administration of the Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA)
examination, which assessed students’ ability
to apply mathematical concepts to real-world
problems.
From Reference 3
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Leveling/Extracurricular activities
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Leveling/Extracurricular activities
• Coursework
• Mentoring opportunities
• Tutorials
• Web resources
• Student competitions
These are critical to student development!!
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Industry Needs
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Context and Goals for
Technological Education
• A New Century
• New Innovation and Enterprise Models
• New Technological Frontiers
• Engineering Grand Challenges
From Reference 1
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With New Speed
Years for Innovative Products to Reach 25%
of the U.S. Population
World Wide Web
Cell Phone
Personal
Computer
Radio
Telephone
Automobile
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From Reference 1
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Engineering Grand Challenges
See the NAE website.
Energy
Environment
Global Warming
Sustainability
Reducing Vulnerability to
Human and Natural Threats
Improve Medicine and
Healthcare Delivery
Expand and Enhance
Human Capability
And Joy
From Reference 1
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Engineering Grand Challenges
Announced Feb. 15, 2008
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Make Solar Energy Economical
Provide Energy from Fusion
Develop Carbon Sequestration
Methods
Manage the Nitrogen Cycle
Provide Access to Clean Water
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Engineer Better Medicines
Advance Health Informatics
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Secure Cyberspace
Prevent Nuclear Terror
Restore and Improve Urban
Infrastructure
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Reverse Engineer the Brain
Enhance Virtual Reality
Advance Personalized Learning
Engineer the Tools of Scientific
Discovery
From Reference 1
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Research Needs
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Electrical Engineering Research Areas
Renewable Energy & Vehicular Technology
Optical Devices and Systems
Nanotechnology & MEMS –
Materials and Devices
ICs
Systems, Controls &
Automated Manufacturing
Power Systems & Industrial
Power Electronics
RFID
Electromagnetic Fields and Applications
Medical Imaging
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Undergraduate Program
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Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program
• Currently straight-line flow curriculum
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Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (2)
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Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (3)
• Changes planned for undergraduate curriculum
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Begin with system-level view
Condense core components to enable specialization
Provide additional hands-on experiences
Add multidisciplinary components
Solidify/provide additional experiences related to globalization,
societal impact, etc.
– Tie to research (NSF REU will help provide resources)
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Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (4)
• Curriculum delivery methods
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Emphasize interactive instruction
Support interactive instruction with demos and mini-lab components
Better utilize variety of supporting materials available on the web
GTAs to provide tutorials on Matlab, Spice, basic math skills,etc.
• Promote extracurricular activities
– Competitions directed toward motivating performance, outreach and
recruiting
– Promote/reward leadership
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• There is a lot out there:
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Experiential learning
Projects
Computer-assisted learning
CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate)
Business Plan Competitions
UROP, UPOP (Undergraduate Research/Practice Opportunities Project)
Studio Learning
WebLab
Second Life …… etc. (Virtual World)
Entire new schools like Olin College
From Reference 1
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General (simplistic) view of many factors involved in
education (graduate)
Industry needs
Graduate
students
Grand Challenges/
Societal constraints
Leveling/
Extracurricular
Products
Services
Patents
Partners/
Collaborators
Graduate
Program
Publications
Students not graduating in the
program
Professional
Service
Faculty/
Centers of
Excellence
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Graduate students
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From Reference 2
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From Reference 2
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Partners/Collaborators
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• The power of regional innovation clusters
• Proximity of small companies and
corporate labs to universities
• Venture capital networks
CV-Important roles of a Tier 1 institution
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Centers of Excellence
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Impact
• Necessary for going beyond incremental advances
• Facilitates bringing together highly skilled teams to solve big
problems
• Serves as a magnet to attract major resources
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Graduate Program
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• Competitions
• Promote centers of excellence
• Promote spin-offs
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Challenges
• Other players in the area
• Emphasis on research/graduate program while also providing
solid undergraduate instruction
• Connecting/partnering with industry
• Context of Tier-1
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Suggestions
• Better understanding of the value-added concept
• Skills in teaming (especially team-forming)
• Understand makeup of teams required to accomplish
different sets of tasks
• Understanding relationships between value-added and sets of
tasks
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References
1. Vest, Charles M., President, National Academy of Engineering, “Engineering Education for the
21st Century, ASEE Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, June 23, 2008
2. NDEA 21: A Renewed Commitment to Graduate Education, The Council of Graduate Schools,
Final Statement November 2005.
3. Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter
Economic Future, Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century:An
Agenda for American Science and Technology, National Academy of Sciences, National
Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, 2007.
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