1. Challenges in 21 st Century Engineering Education Dr. Jonathan Bredow Professor and Chair Department of Electrical Engineering 1

2. General (simplistic) view of many factors involved in education (undergraduate) Undergraduate students Leveling/ Extracurricular Undergraduate Program Industry needs Grand Challenges/ Societal constraints Research Needs Students not graduating in the program 2

3. Undergraduate students 3

4. From Reference 3 4

5. 5

6. Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Foundation, Washington, DC First Engineering Degrees China US Japan From Reference 1 6

7. 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 7

8. Many needs in student development, beyond the technical education 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 8

9. 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 9

10. Leveling/Extracurricular activities 10

11. Leveling/Extracurricular activities Coursework Mentoring opportunities Tutorials Web resources Student competitions These are critical to student development!! 11

12. Industry Needs 12

13. Context and Goals for Technological Education A New Century New Innovation and Enterprise Models New Technological Frontiers Engineering Grand Challenges From Reference 1 13

14. With New Speed From Reference 1 14

15. Engineering Grand Challenges See the NAE website. Energy Environment Global Warming Sustainability Improve Medicine and Healthcare Delivery Reducing Vulnerability to Human and Natural Threats Expand and Enhance Human Capability And Joy From Reference 1 15

16. Engineering Grand Challenges Announced Feb. 15, 2008 Make Solar Energy Economical Provide Energy from Fusion Develop Carbon Sequestration Methods Manage the Nitrogen Cycle Provide Access to Clean Water Engineer Better Medicines Advance Health Informatics Secure Cyberspace Prevent Nuclear Terror Restore and Improve Urban Infrastructure Reverse Engineer the Brain Enhance Virtual Reality Advance Personalized Learning Engineer the Tools of Scientific Discovery From Reference 1 16

17. Research Needs 17

18. Medical Imaging Optical Devices and Systems Systems, Controls & Automated Manufacturing Electromagnetic Fields and Applications Power Systems & Industrial Power Electronics Nanotechnology & MEMS – Materials and Devices RFID ICs Renewable Energy & Vehicular Technology Electrical Engineering Research Areas 18

19. Undergraduate Program 19

20. Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program Currently straight-line flow curriculum 20

21. Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (2) 21

22. Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (3) Changes planned for undergraduate curriculum – 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) 22

23. Immediate Impact – Undergraduate Program (4) Curriculum delivery methods – 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 23

24. There is a lot out there: – 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 24

25. General (simplistic) view of many factors involved in education (graduate) Graduate students Leveling/ Extracurricular Graduate Program Industry needs Grand Challenges/ Societal constraints Partners/ Collaborators Faculty/ Centers of Excellence Students not graduating in the program Patents Publications Products Services Professional Service 25

26. Graduate students 26

27. From Reference 2 27

28. From Reference 2 28

29. Partners/Collaborators 29

30. 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 30

31. Centers of Excellence 31

32. 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 32

33. Graduate Program 33

34. Competitions Promote centers of excellence Promote spin-offs 34

35. 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 35

36. 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 36

37. References 1.Vest, Charles M., President, National Academy of Engineering, “Engineering Education for the 21 st 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. 37