INCORPORATING INDUSTRY NEEDS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS Dr. Samir Al-Baiyat Dean College of Engineering Sciences and Acting Dean College of Applied Engineering King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Outline  Background  History of Assessment and Accreditation  Accreditation  Assessment  Conclusions

Mission: The mission of the College of Engineering is  to educate professionals in engineering, to create and disseminate knowledge and technology,  to expand the base of engineering knowledge through original research, developing technology to serve the needs of society,  to benefit the public through service to industry, government, and the engineering profession.

Background  The Colleges of Engineering Sciences and Applied Engineering were established in 1387 H (1966).

Background  There are six departments in the colleges. These are:  Aerospace Engineering  Chemical Engineering  Civil Engineering  Electrical Engineering  Mechanical Engineering  Petroleum Engineering.

Background  Each department offers two programs one in Engineering Science and the other in Applied Engineering.  The colleges have 164 Professorial rank faculty members

Current Students Enrollment ( )  AE71  CHE338  CE130  EE1071  ME771  PETE217

PROGRAMS ACCREDITATION  KFUPM for its Quest for Excellence opted for independent Assessment for its programs since its establishment. 

Why Accreditation ?  Programs Quality Assurance by independent body.  Recognition of awarded degrees by national & international bodies.  Increases graduates employment opportunities.

PROGRAMS ACCREDITATION  In the early years KFUPM was associated with a Consortium( international body from USA universities) for its programs assessment.

 In the early nineties, the Colleges of Engineering sought international accreditation by Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET).  Both Engineering Programs (ES & AE) are ABET Accredited (1993 and 2002).

 Currently the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Programs are going for Self-Assessment.

Self Assessment Self assessment is an assessment conducted by the institution to assess whether programs meet their educational objectives and outcomes with the purpose to improve program’s quality and enhancing students learning.

 The new emphasis in assessment is shifted from being prescriptive based to outcome- based.  The Role of the Industry

 This new emphasis can not be achieved without the industry ’ s effective input and active interaction. 

Current avenues of interaction Industrial advisory committees at the level of the college and each department  Employers ’ Surveys  Alumni Surveys

 Cooperative and summer programs  Capstone design projects mentors  Research projects  Short Courses  Technical Exchange Meetings and seminars

Applied Engineering Program

Objectives are to study the followings: present structure of AE Programs format and length of the program, procedure of placement, process of monitoring and evaluation

Observation There are no programs offered at North American Universities entitled AE. ES programs at KFUPM may be mapped to Engineering Programs at North American Universities. ES programs at North American Universities are more of Research/Development type.

Observations (Cont.) Some programs have different format for Coop training.

SURVEY Participant of the Survey –KFUPM alumni –Employers of KFUPM graduates –KFUPM faculty –KFUPM senior students

Responses –Alumni79 –Employers78 –Faculty99 –Senior students103

Employer Survey The intention of the Employer Survey is to draw a clear picture about the nature of the industrial organizations in the Kingdom, their size, their principal functions, the number of KFUPM graduates they are employing, their needs and use of different soft and hard skills.

Principal Function of Participating Department/Unit Power Generation and Distribution24% Financial Services17% Petrochemical and Related Industries13% Petroleum Production Industry12% Computer and Information Technology6% Telecommunication Industry4% Others19%

Involvement of Participating Organizations Planning, Design and Coordination15% Production and Manufacturing Engineering14% Marketing10% Human Resources9% Information Technology7% Installation, Operation and Maintenance7% Others28%

Number of University Graduates Currently Working in Participating Departments/Units 1-531% % % % Over 5014%

Skills and Knowledge Relevant to Employment Area of skills and Knowledge Strongly Relevant or Relevant Basic Sciences, Mathematics, Physics73% Knowledge in the subject of the Academic Major73% Computer Skills92% Relevant Design Skills60% Ability to Adapt88%

Skills and Knowledge Relevant to Employment Technical Problem Solving Skills8% Initiative and Perception91% Managerial Skills65% Decision Making79% Presentation and Technical Writing Skills83% Interpersonal and Communication Skills91%

Observation Interpersonal and communication skills, computer skills, and initiative and perception are the most relevant/used skills. Design skills are the least relevant/used skills.

Graduate Performance Graduate Performance Area of Skills and Knowledge KFUPM Graduates w/ Co-Op Other Institution's Graduates Basic Sciences, Mathematics, Physics51%44% Knowledge in the subject of the Academic Major60%37% Computer Skills68%38% Relevant Design Skills44%36% Ability to Adapt60%29%

Graduate Performance Technical Problem Solving Skills42%33% Initiative and Perception44%32% Managerial Skills31%27% Decision Making40%36% Presentation and Technical Writing Skills45%32% Interpersonal and Communication Skills53%38%

Usefulness of Summer and Co-Op Employment to Participating Department/Units Training Summer Training Co-Op Employment Very Useful17%50% Useful32%33% Maybe Useful40%14% Useless8%1% Totally Useless4%0%

Employment Preference TrainingPreference With Co-Op63% Without Co-Op2% Equally Preferable35%

Alumni Survey Objective: The objective of the Alumni Survey is to draw clear picture about the nature of the jobs performed by KFUPM alumni and the relevance and usefulness of the courses taught at KFUPM to their career.

Nature of Industrial Organization 54% is petrochemical and related industries

Principal Function of the Department/Unit of the Alumni 64% are in inst., Oper., Maint., Desi., Manu.

Alumni Participation

Years of Experience of Participating Alumni

Position of Participating Alumni 47% Engineering 44% Management

Functions Performed by the Participating Alumni More than 50% of the total working time of the participating alumni is spent in doing the following functions: 27% consulting, maintenance, management, planning, quality control and sales, 15% estimating 7% construction.

Relevance of Courses Taught at KFUPM Core Courses50% Electives47% Computer packages34% Numerical methods and statistics 44% LAB experiments46%

Adequacy of Courses Taught at KFUPM Math 91% Physics 87% Amount of LABs78% Oral communications63% Written communications72%

Faculty Survey The intention of faculty survey is solicit the faculty opinion about their awareness of the objectives of the Coop and Applied Engineering program, their involvement in the Coop training program, their views regarding the improvement of the Applied Engineering program.

82% are aware of the Applied Engineering objectives 74% see no difference the two programs

How to improve the Applied Engineering Program? Make Technical Courses Application oriented 52% Introduce new Technical Courses13% Reduce amount of Physics4% Reduce amount of Mathematics0% All of the above32%

Results  92% aware of the objectives of Coop Program  82% involved in the Coop Program  63% are advisors for Coop students  59% consider 9 credit hours are HIGH  85% suggest to keep Coop training but with improvements

Satisfaction with the outcome Presentation and Communication Skills57% Report Writing Skills71% Practical Knowledge Gained37%

How to improve Coop training Communication between Students and Advisor3% Interaction between Co-Op Advisors and Workplace31% Appropriate Placement11% Availability of Training Program6% Awareness about Co-Op Objectives18% Others30%

Student Survey The intention of the student survey is to solicit the opinion of the students regarding the reasons of joining the Coop training program, their awareness about its objectives, the outcome and the number of credit hours allocated.

Opinion about the Coop Relevance of Training with Academic Major99% Practical or Technical Experience Gained92% Knowledge Gained about Work Environment92% Communications Skills Gained96% Awareness of Employers about Co-Op63%

General Observations Based on the results obtained from the alumni, employer, student and faculty surveys it appears that there is a real need to make a distinctive difference between the programs of Engineering Science and Applied Engineering.

Conclusions  The colleges of engineering will maintain a world class engineering education through effective interaction with the industry.  The feedback from the industry in maintaining a world class engineering education is very vital.

 The department industrial advisory committees provide invaluable guidance and support to the effort.  The Colleges of Engineering will continuously solicit the feedback from the industry through different avenues.

Thank You