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

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WFSF influence on personal philosophy as educatorAppreciation for how large projects come together for asingle end product. Appreciation of System Engineering.Discussions with senior faculty. Overview of howdifferent personalities fit into a modern engineeringcompany. Reinforced importance of self-education skills.Far more acceptance of ‘soft issues’. Reinforcedcommitment to undergraduate teaching. Awareness of whyengineers need many types of expertise such as history,economics and politics. Need to pay more attention tofundamentals in the first 3 years of the undergraduatecurriculum, and use the final years to transition toindustry.Top 3 issues for the future of engineering education:Educating for innovation. Regaining pre-eminence ininnovation and analytical thinking, with mathematicalskills. Balancing soft skills vs. basics. Relevance ofBachelors’ degree vs. Masters level first professionaldegree. Competing with law, medicine and business forthe best students, and creating a welcoming environmentfor underrepresented groups. Finding resources for handsonexperiences; allowing undergraduates to reach their truepotential to contribute to research / design projects.Adapting the curriculum to change. Anticipatingtechnological advances. Developing interdisciplinaryprograms.Program expectations and modes ofinvolvement varied widely, driven byindividual preferences, security / programconstraints and the mentors’ schedules andpreferences. The common featureappeared to be that everyone had a hugevolume of experience and accumulatedproject ideas to pursue. A search of theinternet shows that faculty members areproud of being selected for any of theBoeing awards. An important difference inthis program is the explicit expectationthat participation in the Welliver programmust have some lasting impact onacademic programs, driven by facultyinitiative. Some examples:• Campus seminar upon return 11• ASEE papers 12,13,14,15 and IUGREEEpresentation(s) 9 .• Curricular changes at all levels,specifically increasing “relevantexamples” in courses, andincorporation of teamworkexperiences.• Ethics Case Studies 16 .A View Towards the FutureClearly, the Welliver program has built enough bridges between industry and academia to moveon to the next level in collaboration. We see opportunities for close synergy between industryand academia to deal with some of the very large opportunities that arise from the new emphaseson globalization and large-system design. Universities are well-poised to take on the most riskyparts of cross-disciplinary concept development, while industry can provide the relevance andsome of the tools needed for such efforts. Closer involvement of faculty and industry expertswho understand each other, will open the way to tailor effective joint programs, with students asthe focal points.An initial cut at the strategies for future engineering education is summarized below,incorporating some of the best practices from academia into evolving industry needs. A highquality undergraduate university program should address the following “basics”:• Demonstrate that engineering is practiced within a much broader societal context – not as anend in itself.• Teach students how to learn - and make it clear that it is both a life-long pleasure and necessity.Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & ExpositionCopyright ASEE 2005, American Society for Engineering Education.
• Develop a fundamental understanding of the unity of the fundamental tools and conceptsneeded for engineering practice (rather than providing them a vast bag of tricks for solvingselected problems). These basic fundamentals include:– Mathematics– Information technology– Science, including the “engineering sciences”– Design and manufacturing (design-build-test projects)– Economics and business practices– Communication skills (written, oral, graphic and listening)• Emphasize “design” (Creative thinking and open-ended problem solving in the mostgeneral sense) and its close connection with manufacturing (i.e. “If you can’t build it,you can’t use or sell it”.)• Show students how to get information and how to deal effectively with too much of it(i.e. emphasize critical thinking and evaluation skills)• Emphasize teamwork (not merely “group work”) and communication skills•Emphasize the “Why” and “What” of theory, and how these basics are then applied inpractice. The “How” in applications can then be further enriched by experience andsubsequent training.The relative importance of the above items should be a focus of discussion. For instance, ifindustry values the basic fundamentals, as is evident from the placement of that item on the list,that fact must be emphasized, so that the more “modern” items do not displace this from theuniversity’s list of priorities. These ideas are summarized in Figure 3, but we note that the sameengineer need not fit all the different career choices.A Well-Rounded EngineerKnowledge of Many Skills with Career Choices Based on Talent and AbilityTechnicalSubjectMatterExpertsFoundationalTechnical Skills• Math• Science• Analysis• ComputingEngineeringSkills• Design• SystemIntegrationDesignersSystem ArchitectsSystem IntegratorsCustomer ServiceEngineersProfessionalSkills• Communications• Team Work• Networking• InterpersonalBusinessSkills AndAcumen• Cost accounting• Scheduling• PlanningGeneral knowledgeand life experienceProgramManagersFigure 3. The Well-Rounded Engineer of the 21 st CenturyProceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & ExpositionCopyright ASEE 2005, American Society for Engineering Education.
Page 1 and 2: Boeing-University Relations - A Rev
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Page 5 and 6: [Note: The Boeing list of the “De
Page 7 and 8: eport required is each Fellow’s i
Page 9 and 10: Changes in Academia in the Past 15
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Page 17 and 18: AppendixExcerpts from Survey Respon
Page 19: BIOGRAPHIESDr. John H. McMasters jo

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