Boeing-University Relations - A Review and Prospects for the Future

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competition. Today, it is becoming evident that the success of engineering in othercountries such as Japan, China and India may be due not just to “cheap labor” but also to“better product for the money”. This has occurred in one industry after another,exemplified by the evolution of Japanese automobiles from their “reputation” for cheap,flimsy vehicles, to dominance of objective quality rankings. The same occurred in thesemiconductor industry. Similar developments are becoming evident in the Europeanaerospace industry, which has proved to be faster at adopting technical innovations intoadvanced products than their American counterparts.The implications to engineering education are yet to be realized – but it is evident fromexperience that engineers graduating from other nations are quite well-prepared to succeed inAmerican graduate schools. Today it is also becoming evident that uncompromising emphasis onmathematical reasoning and analytical ability are keys to implementing innovations in advancedtechnology. Graduates from the leading European and Asian institutions come with superbmathematical skills. The superstitions which held that foreign schools teach rote learning andimitation, while we teach analytical thinking and innovation, are debunked by quantitative andqualitative evidence.Integrating Industry and University ViewpointsIn Table 1, we try to summarize the major issues that faced industry and universities over theyears. Certainly, issues crossed these pigeonholes, but there are some general trends that gotmore attention in different periods. Over the years, there has been increasing communication andbetter understanding of perspectives, though this is not to claim that there has been, or will oreven need be, total alignment. Table 1 is an attempt to summarize the evolution of issuesinformally – no claim is made that these perceptions of issues are generally endorsed.Table 1: Evolution of IssuesPeriod Industry UniversitiesMid- Cold WarResearch vs. Instruction‘80sLate80sEarly90sTransition from mass-producedplatforms to multiple projects andsmall production runs.Total Quality Management.Team project environments.Mid’90s Gulf War 1. Market responsiveness,Production efficiency. Workforcefluctuation. Internet revolution.Late‘90s.Dotcom boom. Worker shortage.Global competition starts.Increase design content in curriculum.Developing teaching metrics.Curricular reform initiatives; “ScholarshipRedefined”. Experiential learning.Experiments with new types of curricula.Internet revolution. Integration of pedagogyresearch into university instruction.System lifecycle simulation. Systems designcurricula.Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & ExpositionCopyright ASEE 2005, American Society for Engineering Education.
Early00sRecession. Terrorism & securityissues. War economy. Drop inglobal demand. Loss of corporatememory.Mid 00s Cost-cutting; stiff globalcompetition. Making money onR&D; small-group environments.Knowledge retention & transfer.2010s? Large-scale distributed projects.LSI. Outsourcing design as well asproduction.Cross-disciplinary research. Emphasis onnano-systems, biotechnology. Undergraduateresearch participation. New ABET criteriafocus on self-assessment.Distance learning. Questions about role of USeducation system. Assessment tools andpractices.More choice in curricula. Diverse tracks andcareer choices. Need for substantial “societal”issue experience in engineering education.The Boeing Welliver program, over the years, has been very effective in bridging majordisagreements and building the confidence needed to institute effective and well-focusedchanges. We surveyed the “Welliver Alumni” (107 to-date) with 5 questions, shown at left. Theresponses are discussed below. First, some general observations from the responses.Questions e-mailed to the Alumni of the Welliver Summer• The Welliver program focused onFaculty Fellowship program, January 2005.1.How has WFSF influenced your relations with industry? individual teaching faculty, rather than2.How has WFSF influenced the curriculum?administrators, as ambassadors of3.How has WFSF influenced your personal philosophy as change.educator?• It impressed faculty with its depth and4.What do you see as the top 3 issues for the future ofbreadth of corporate commitment. Theengineering education today?5. Are these the right questions? If not, please suggest the opportunity to discuss issues withright questions.senior corporate talent was valued.• The intensity and breadth of the 8-How has WFSF influenced your relations withweek individual experience, as well asindustry?“learning through colleagues’ eyes”Better appreciation of how industry operates, and what is that came from comparing notes withvalued there. Ongoing interactions with Boeing. Enhancedthe team, enabled a deeply impressiveunderstanding and credibility in dealing with othercompanies. Better understanding of how to frame research experience.issues.• Curiosity about the approaches takenby one’s teammates, given the sameHow has WFSF influenced the curriculum?problem definition and similarCreation of “Systems Engineering” courses and even constraints, turned into strongentire curricula. Incorporation of “lean” ideas, “practical friendships. That there was no real callinformation”, communication exercises, schedule and costconcerns and case studies into courses. Multidisciplinaryfor “competition” beyond theteam projects. Ideas from Integrated Product Teams.imperative of contributing one’s bestIncreased interest in design. Lower-division introduction as a team member, is an extremelycourses for perspective. Expanded elective choices.important facilitator of this experienceReinforcement of ideas.• It focused on the most importantaspect of the teacher’s profession –deciding how and what to teach their students, providing expert support in a team setting.• Beyond this support, it left the freedom to plan and implement in the hands of the teacher,without pressure for short-term demonstrations.• It continued to articulate a consistent message for a decade.Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & ExpositionCopyright ASEE 2005, American Society for Engineering Education.
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Page 19: BIOGRAPHIESDr. John H. McMasters jo

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