From October 21 to 23, 2008, The Heritage Foundation, supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, convened leading education and national security experts as well as private-sector representatives to discuss methods for strengthening America's competitiveness by improving its performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

Seattle University has an industrially sponsored, yearlong, senior design program that has been in existence for more than 20 years. Students work in teams of three or four under the guidance of a liaison from the sponsoring agency and a faculty advisor. The students prepare a proposal in the fall quarter detailing their plan and a design report…

With the evolution of the surrounding world market, engineers have to propose innovations in products and processes. Industrial innovation frequently results from an improved understanding of basic physics. In this paper, an approach to accelerate inventive preliminary design is presented. This method combines the main advantages of CBR (Case…

After several years of demanding study, new engineers graduate from higher education as professionals eager to apply their expertise to solving "real world" problems. Yet, the transition from school to the workplace involves a socialization process through which new graduates attempt to learn the specific tasks and expectations of their…

A web-based tool for visualizing the simulated structural behavior of building models was developed to support the teaching of structural design to architecture and engineering students by activating their spatial cognition capabilities. The main didactic issues involved establishing a consistent and complete three-dimensional vocabulary (3D)…

In this paper, a study is presented in which engineering students at a Danish university developed Continuous Improvement (CI) and innovation capabilities through action research and experiential learning methods. The paper begins with a brief overview of the literature on CI and innovation, followed by an account of how the students designed and…

A number of new initiatives have been started in the United Kingdom to bring universities and industry closer together. Several of these programs are outlined and the experience at Cambridge University with a research and teaching program linked directly to a manufacturing industry is described. (Author/JN)

Recent economic growth and improved manufacturing profitability are supporting increased employment for industrial engineers. Promising areas include modernizing manufacturing technology and productivity with large amounts of hiring in aerospace, electronics, and instrumentation. Percentages of women employed in these fields for 1982 and 1983 are…

Describes a student project in chemical plant design offered as part of a freshman chemical engineering course. (MLH)

Despite slack in some computer companies, overall demand for new electrical and electronic graduates continues to be strong. Employment potential also exists in such areas as government, manufacturing, utilities, and defense (especially aerospace industries). (DH)

Discusses employee benefits offered to various manufacturing industry workers, especially for chemical professionals. Indicates that in the chemicals and allied products industry, such benefits averaged more than 30 percent of payroll in 1971. (CC)

In technologically advanced countries, there is a general concern over the recruitment and retention to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In the UK, there are much commented upon shortages of qualified STEM secondary teachers. In an effort to produce change, Gatsby Technical Education Projects (GTEP) was set up specifically…

The highest rate of accidents and injuries in British industries has been reported by the construction industry during the past decade. Since then stakeholders have recognised that a possible solution would be to inculcate a good attitude towards health and safety risk management in undergraduate civil engineering students and construction…

The Separations Research Program at the University of Texas at Austin is an attempt to foster greater industry-university collaboration in the separations technology area. The development and operation of the program, current research areas, and future directions are discussed. (JN)

High skills are today seen as being of vital importance to economies, industries, companies and individuals. The engineering industry is no exception and the graduate engineer has a key position in this regard. In the research reported in this paper, the authors use in-depth interviews with industry experts to investigate the provision of…