October 2004

Welcome to the October issue of Connections, the American Society for Engineering Education's free e-newsletter.

Spotlight On Our Sponsors:

Autodesk Instructor Development Program

Training, Just for Educators!

Autodesk, Inc. partnered with our Autodesk Education Representatives (AERs), offer a variety of options to assist educators in their professional development. Our comprehensive Autodesk Instructor Development seminars are designed to give you hands-on knowledge of our software, along with a free not-for-resale software license to develop your software knowledge on.

Whether you are interested in architectural design, mechanical engineering, or visualization, Autodesk and our Autodesk Authorized Education Representatives are committed to giving you the training you need to understand the software and teach your students.

Click on www.autodesk.com/
instructordevelopment to learn more about the AIDP Seminars and how to register.

National Instruments

Looking for a way to quantify your knowledge? Want to differentiate your skills in the job market? The free LabVIEW Fundamentals Exam is here!

Learn more here: http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/
express?openagent&code=aatitk.

NCEES Fundamentals of
Engineering Exam

As engineering educators refine their outcomes assessment programs, effective tools are always in demand. One measurement tool that continues to surface in program assessment plans is the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination. This examination, used as the first step in professional licensing for engineers, is the only nationally normed examination addressing specific engineering topics. The detailed reports of performance by subject area provide comparative information for currently enrolled students than can be related to the program's success. To receive additional information on applying the results of the FE as an outcomes assessment tool, visit http://www.ncees.org or call 1-800-250-3196.

Quanser Teaches Control Fundamentals - And More!

If you're introducing control theory to your students, Quanser offers a wide range of hands-on experiments and products. All are fully integrated with N.I.'s LabVIEW, as well as TMW's MATLAB/Simulink environments.

New products include the Quanser Engineering Trainer (QET), (www.quanser.com/QET), DC Motor Control Trainer. Co-developed with Prof. Karl Åström, the QET provides an ideal way to teach control fundamentals and much more.

The company also features the new Quanser Engineering Trainers for NI ELVIS (QNET), (www.quanser.com/QNET) an exciting series of compact and cost-effective experiment packages for teaching fundamental engineering concepts.

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In this Issue:

I. Science and Technology Briefs

Tenure and Toddlers Don't Track for Women - A study finds that women sans children are more likely to achieve tenure.
Hot Revenue - A University of California-Berkeley professor is showing companies how to generate revenue by selling their waste heat.

II. Congressional Hotline

U.S. Researchers Urge Visa Reform
NSB Report Profiles U.S. Technical Workforce

III. Teaching Toolbox

Downloading the Ocean - A Georgia Tech education outreach program will allow high school students to take real-time oceanographic data measurements of Georgia's coastal waters.
School for Wonks - Engineering schools are slowly responding to the need for grads with both technical and public policy know-how.

IV. Feature Articles

Opening a New Book - Today's engineering students must be able to communicate well, work in teams, and take societal concerns into account. The question for educators is how to teach these skills.
Few and Far Between - Female students are hard to find in engineering technology programs and schools are working to address the problem.

V. ASEE-administered Fellowship Programs

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
NASA Summer Faculty Research Opportunities
The Office of Naval Research Summer Faculty Research and Sabbatical Leave Program
The Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship

I. Science and Technology Briefs

TENURE AND TODDLERS DON'T TRACK FOR WOMEN
When is the best time for women academics working toward tenure to have children? A recent University of California-Berkeley study provides a gloomy answer for female academics who want a family and a career. Women sans children are 30 percent more likely to be on track for tenure than women with kids, according to the study, dubbed Do Babies Matter?

To read the rest of this article, visit www.prism-magazine.org/feb04/briefings.cfm#babies.

HOT REVENUE
The day may come when all sorts of businesses can count on an extra revenue stream generated from what's essentially a byproduct of their main business: heat. Every day, countless businesses-from manufacturers to restaurants to dry cleaners-generate and vent huge amounts of waste heat from their in-house power plants, mainly gas turbines or diesel generators.

To read the rest of this article, visit www.prism-magazine.org/feb04/briefings.cfm#revenue.

Back to the index.

II. Congressional Hotline

U.S. Researchers Urge Visa Reforms
International student applications have been dropping in the stricter, post 9/11 environment. Visa restrictions have even kept foreign students and academics from attending short-term meetings and conferences to which they were invited. The new, more restrictive visa policy is part of the National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) law that went into effect on October 1, 2002.

Concerned with the measures being taken, a group of organizations representing almost 95 percent of U.S. researchers presented Congress and President Bush suggestions to reform the visa review process. The suggestions included letting foreigners begin the visa renewal process before they travel to the United States, letting them track their visa applications, and ensuring a fair, universal visa application process by re-training consular staff.

To read more about the issue, visit www.aaas.org/spp/post911/visas/.

NSB Report Profiles U.S. Technical Workforce
According to the National Science Board's "Science and Engineering Indicators 2004" the number of people retiring from the U.S. technical workforce will increase dramatically in the next 20 years. The NSB report says that changes in the number of new science and engineering degrees, retirement behavior, or immigration must be made. Otherwise the U.S. technical workforce will experience increasingly slow growth. The report also highlighted the rise of quality technical education abroad and this country's increasing reliance, in absolute and relative terms, on foreign-born students. Other notable data:

Women's share of engineering degrees increased from 2 to 20 percent since the mid-70's
The number of Ph.D.s earned by non-Hispanic white males dropped from 9,400 in the early 80s to 7,500 by 2001

To read the full report, visit www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04/start.htm.

Back to the index.

III. Teaching Toolbox

Downloading the Ocean
The SeaMaven project is bringing the ocean into Georgia classrooms. Begun in January 2003, the project is working to establish a Web site from which middle and high school students can download near real-time oceanographic data from instruments on Navy flight-training platforms off the coast of Georgia. The goal is to develop classroom projects utilizing this data, giving students a taste of scientists' work and making them aware of technical career paths. Jim Demmers, the Georgia Tech researcher heading the project, says, however, that SeaMaven is not just a recruiting tool. "This is an attempt to get students into science as not only a career option," he says, "but as something they can carry forward into the rest of their lives."

Visit www.prism-magazine.org/mar04/oncampus.cfm and scroll down to read the rest of this story.

School for Wonks
Ask any engineering student in the country whether modern engineering practice runs up against an increasing number of societal and policy problems, and the answer you'll most likely get is a resounding "yes." Ask those same students whether their education-particularly at the undergraduate level-provides them with the skills needed to analyze and solve those problems at a public-policy level, and you'll see some head scratching.

To read the rest of this story, visit www.prism-magazine.org/feb04/toolbox.cfm.

Back to the index.

IV. Feature Articles

Opening a New Book
By Thomas K. Grose

Michael Nagy is an electrical engineer who has built a successful, 14-year career in the aerospace and telecommunications industry. And along the way, he admits, he's worked with a lot of bad engineers. Many were technical wizards, but they lacked other crucial skills needed to do their jobs. He's worked with rotten communicators, ineffective team-workers, engineers with no grasp of ethics, and those who couldn't see how technology was affected by social and economic concerns. Underdeveloped engineers, Nagy says, typically blame failed projects on "stupid" accountants, marketers, customers, or regulators. They don't comprehend that solutions that rely on technology alone are often unsustainable. There are, of course, talented engineers who have the skills to take all those considerations into account, and who also communicate well and are team players. The problem is, Nagy says, "If they're good at those things it's not because they learned them in [engineering] school."

To read the rest of this story, visit www.prism-magazine.org/feb04/new_book.cfm.

Few and Far Between
By Barbara Mathias-Riegel

April Thoms is both an anomaly and paradigm. As far as she knows, she was the only girl in her high school graduating class of 550 students in Eau Claire, Wis., to go on to seek a degree in engineering technology. Even now that she's in her second year at Michigan Tech (MTU), she's one of only four women in classes of 40 to 60 students. The gender imbalance doesn't faze Thoms, she's more interested in pursuing her love of mechanics, an interest born during childhood time spent making model cars, playing with Legos, and drawing up imaginary house plans.

To read the rest of this story, visit www.prism-magazine.org/feb04/female_students.cfm.

Back to the index.

V. ASEE-administered Fellowship Programs

Did you know that ASEE administers doctoral, post-doctoral, and faculty fellowship programs funded by the federal government? The following are the programs currently offered:

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program (NDSEG), sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force

Intended for U.S. citizens at or near the beginning of their graduate studies in science and/or engineering programs. Approximately 180 new awards in 2005
Three-year fellowships that include a personal stipend ($30,500 the first year, $31,000 the second, and $31,500 the third), full tuition and fees, and a health insurance allowance
Application deadline is January 7, 2005
For information and to apply online, go to www.asee.org/ndseg.

NASA Summer Faculty Research Opportunities, sponsored by NASA's Faculty Awards for Research (FAR) Program and the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program

Intended for U.S. citizens who hold full-time science and engineering faculty positions at U.S. colleges, community colleges, and universities. The duration of this summer fellowship is 10 continuous weeks and research is performed on-site
A competitive stipend and travel/relocation allowances are available
Application deadline will be in February, 2005
For more information and to apply online, go to www.asee.org/nffp or e-mail nasa@asee.org.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Summer Faculty Research and Sabbatical Leave Program

Intended for U.S. citizens who hold teaching or research appointments relating to science and/or engineering at U.S. academic institutions
Offers a competitive stipend, relocation and travel allowances, as well as a two-day, pre-program site visit
Application deadline is December 1, 2004
For information and to apply online, go to www.asee.org/summer.

The Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP)

Intended for U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have earned a doctorate in science or engineering and who hold full-time science or engineering faculty positions at U.S. colleges, community colleges, and universities. The duration of the summer fellowship is from 8 to 12 continuous weeks and research is performed on-site
Offers a competitive weekly stipend, and relocation and travel allowances
Application deadline will be January, 2005
For information and to apply online, go to www.asee.org/sffp or e-mail sffp@asee.org.

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

One to three year postdoctoral fellowship program designed to increase the involvement of creative and highly trained scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy
Open to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents
Offers a competitive stipend, as well as insurance, relocation and travel allowances
This program has a rolling admission; visit www.asee.org/resources/fellowships/nrl/ to learn more about the program.

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Connections is brought to you by the American Society for Engineering Education.

Over 12,000 engineering and engineering technology faculty members and administrators enjoy the many benefits and services that ASEE offers. The Society's award-winning magazine ASEE Prism and academic publications (Journal of Engineering Education and Profiles of Engineering Colleges) keep members up to date with the best and latest in engineering education, engineering research trends, and academic issues, while 47 professional interest groups and a varied selection of meetings provide professional development and networking opportunities that no other society can offer within the engineering education community. Members also receive reduced rates at local and national conferences, discounts on ASEE products, money-saving members-only discounts on financial, insurance, and travel programs, plus an ever growing variety of online services. Our goal is to focus on issues that matter the most to you in our publications, meetings, and on-line services, and to enable you to interact with others who share your specific engineering and educational interests. To join online, just go to www.asee.org/members, or contact our member services department at 202-331-3520 for further information

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