February 2006

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

Spotlight On Our Sponsors:

• Autodesk - Higher Education Programs
  www.autodesk.com/education
   

• NI- Are you on a LabVIEW Campus?
  http://digital.ni.com
   

• Synplify® Premier Software, Synplicity’s University Program
  http://www.synplicity.com
  /university.html

Autodesk - Higher Education Programs

As the world’s leading supplier of PC design software and digital content-creation tools, Autodesk wants to be your partner in preparing your students for future careers. Together we can expand the range of teaching and learning opportunities for you and your students and help build a bridge to their future. To learn more about Autodesk’s programs for higher education, visit www.autodesk.com/education

Are you on a LabVIEW Campus?

National Instruments Academic Site Licenses are the most cost-effective way to get access to all of the power of NI Software, including the latest versions of LabVIEW, modules and toolkits, Signal Express, and Measurement Studio. To find out if you are covered under a site license, visit: http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/
express?openagent&code=aasqtu.

Synplify® Premier Software Now Available Through Synplicity’s University Program

Synplify® Premier software builds upon Synplicity's industry-leading technology and adds new graph-based physical synthesis for timing closure and simulator-like visibility into operating FPGA devices for fast source-level debugging.  Graph-based physical synthesis improves timing closure by means of a single-pass physical synthesis flow for 90nm FPGAs. Unlike ASICs, proximity does not imply better timing in FPGAs. In graph-based physical synthesis, pre-existing wires, switches, and placement sites used for routing an FPGA can be represented as a detailed routing resource graph. The notion of distance then changes to a measure of delay and availability of wires. The Synplify Premier solution's graph-based physical synthesis technology merges optimization, placement, and routing to generate a fully placed and physically optimized netlist, providing rapid timing closure and a 5 - 20% timing improvement. For further information please contact university@synplicity.com or visit http://www.synplicity.com/university.html

Welcome to the world of K–12 engineering!

Introducing engineering into the K–12 classroom connects science and math concepts to the everyday engineering that surrounds us. TeachEngineering.com helps teachers enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands–on engineering. With a fully searchable, digital library of standards–based lesson plans, and a myriad of “Living Laboratories” that bring real–world engineering principles into the classroom, TeachEngineering's comprehensive curricula are hands–on, inexpensive, and relevant to children's daily lives.

TeachEngineering.com is a joint effort of the University of Colorado, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Colorado School of Mines, Duke University, Oregon State University, and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

Bring the world of engineering into the K–12 classroom with TeachEngineering.com. You don’t need knowledge of engineering to use these curricula!

Search TeachEngineering.com’s digital library at
www.teachengineering.com.

New and Improved Journal of Engineering Education!

The Journal of Engineering Education is a peer-reviewed international journal published quarterly by the American Society for Engineering Education. It serves as an archival record of the leading scholarly research in engineering education. Visit www.asee.org/publications/jee/ to read it online.

In this Issue:

I. Databytes

• Degrees Awarded by Gender in 2004
• Schools With the Highest Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women in 2004*
• Percentage of Bachelor's Degrees Awarded to Women by Discipline in 2004

II. Congressional Hotline

• House Passes Legislation to Cut $12 billion From Student-Loan Programs
• Senators Announce Protecting America's Competitiveness Edge (PACE) Act

III. Teaching Toolbox

• Circle of Support

IV. Fellowship Programs

• NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP)
• The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

V. Call for Papers

• 2006 Global Colloquium on Engineering Education

I. Databytes

Back to the index.

II. Congressional Hotline

House Passes Legislation to Cut $12 billion from Student-Loan Programs

            In an effort to slow federal spending, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation last week that would cut $12 billion from the government student-loan programs.  The bill was approved by the Senate in December and will now go the President for his signature. 

            The cuts come as part of the budget reconciliation bill that will cut almost $40 billion from entitlement spending over five years.  The bill will reduce government subsidies to private lenders, raise interest rates for students and parents, and require most borrowers to pay a one percent fee to agencies that guarantee loans.  Although most of the savings bill will go towards reducing the federal budget deficit, part of the savings would finance a new program providing additional aid to high-achieving Pell Grant recipients and to those who major in mathematics, the sciences, or certain foreign languages.

            For more information, visit: http://njpirg.org/NJ.asp?id2=21732 .

Senators Announce Protecting America’s Competitiveness Edge (PACE) Act

On January 25, Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), introduced a package of three bills aimed at helping America maintain its leading edge in science and technology.  The bills are collectively titled the Protecting America’s Competitive Edge (PACE) Act.  The PACE Act implements 20 recommendations contained in a recent report by the National Academy of Science, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.”  

The first bill, Protecting America’s Competitive Edge through Energy Act (PACE-Energy, S. 2197), will:

·         Authorize the Secretary of Energy to award merit-based scholarships up to $20,000 per year for up to four years to assist students in paying their college expenses. Such expenses shall include tuition, books, fees, supplies, and required equipment for courses of instruction leading to a baccalaureate degree in mathematics, science, or engineering at a 4-year institution of higher education.

·         Authorize the Secretary to establish a fellowship program to provide tuition and financial support for students enrolled in Master’s and Doctoral degree programs in mathematics, science, engineering, or other areas of national need at institutions of higher education.

·         Establish the Advanced Research Projects Authority – Energy as a new office within DOE that will report to the Undersecretary for Science. The Authority is modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Authority (DARPA) and will support ground-breaking energy research.

·         Double authorized funding levels for basic research in the physical sciences. The authorization levels for the Office of Science follow the National Academy recommendation of 10 percent annual growth from the current 2006 baseline budget through 2013.

The second bill, Protecting America’s Competitive Edge through Education and Research (PACE- Education, S. 2198), will:

·         Authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to departments of mathematics, science, or engineering at institutions of higher education that partner with teacher preparation programs to provide integrated courses of study that lead to a baccalaureate degree in math, science, or engineering with concurrent teacher certification.

·         Authorize the Director of the NSF to award merit-based scholarships up to $20,000 per year for up to four years to students majoring in mathematics, science, or engineering who
pursue concurrent teacher certification to assist the students in paying their college education expenses.

·         Authorize the Director of the NSF to award 2 types of fellowships to math and science teachers: 1) $10,000 award annually for four years to individuals who complete a baccalaureate degree in
science, engineering, or mathematics, with concurrent teacher certification, and teach as a fulltime mathematics, science or elementary school teacher in a high-need public elementary or
secondary school; 2) $10,000 award annually for five years to teachers who have successfully completed a master’s degree in science or mathematics education and who undertake increased responsibilities, such as teacher mentoring and other leadership activities.

·         Create a standing subcommittee in the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology to develop national goals for education in mathematics, science, and engineering across the various federal agencies that conduct such programs. Creates a Deputy Assistant Director for Science, Mathematics and Engineering in the Office of Science and Technology Policy to coordinate the federal budgets for education programs in science, mathematics and engineering as part of the annual budget submission of the President to Congress.

·         Increase the NASA basic research, the NSF Research and Related Activities budget, and the DOD 6.1 basic research budget 10 percent annually through 2013.

·         Creates a new “F-4” student visa for doctoral candidates studying in the fields of math, engineering, technology, or the physical sciences. After completing their doctoral
program, eligible students could either return to their country of origin or remain within the United States for up to 1 year to seek employment in their relevant field of study. Upon gaining employment, the individual would also be permitted to adjust his or her status to that of a legal permanent resident after paying a $1,000 fee and passing relevant security checks. Of the required fee, 80 percent would be deposited in a fund designated for job training and scholarships for American workers and 20 percent in a fraud prevention account.

The third bill, Protecting America’s Competitive Edge through Tax Incentives (PACE-Tax, S. 2199), will:

·         Double the current R&D tax credit (20% to 40%) and expand the credit to allow 100% of the cost of all research conducted by consortium, small businesses, federal laboratories and universities (current law limits the 100% cost inclusion to energy research).

·         Makes the entire R&D tax credit permanent.

·         Provide for a tax credit of up to $500,000 annually to employers who provide qualified education to maintain or improve employees’ knowledge in science or engineering.

For more information on the PACE Act, visit: http://domenici.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=250731.

Back to the index.

III. Teaching Toolbox

Circle of Support

As engineering programs strive to attract and retain more female students, supportive communities and service components are no longer the exception – they’re becoming the rule.

 By Peggy Loftus

Although she excelled at both math and science in high school, Jenny Moerschbacher never gave much thought to becoming an engineer. “I could also write and talk to people,” she explains, which had her leaning toward a major in business or economics. It wasn’t until she learned about Lafayette College’s interdisciplinary bachelor of arts degree in engineering that she realized the field might actually suit her skills perfectly—a decision that was reinforced in her junior year when she traveled to a Central American country with a team from Lafayette’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders to work on a project bringing clean water to two villages. “I liked that I could have an effect on people’s lives,” Moerschbacher says. “That was really cool to me.”

Such enthusiasm for interdisciplinary studies and service projects hasn’t been lost on engineering programs as they scramble to find new ways to engage and retain more young women like Moerschbacher. Indeed, some schools have seen their numbers of women graduates inch up beyond the national average of 20 percent by shedding rigid curricula and culture in favor of more programs like these. As the United States struggles with a dearth of engineers and increasingly complex problems for them to solve, putting out the welcome mat for women is more important than ever, explains Gary Gabriele, director of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Engineering Education and Centers. “Problems that engineers will face in the future are so complex and multidimensional that it doesn’t make sense to solve them with a group of people who essentially have one common background and perspective.”

Step one is building a strong community for undergraduate women to help alleviate that all-too-familiar sense of isolation common among female engineers. “Every day you get subtle messages that you don’t belong, and after a while you start to question yourself because it’s not something blatant,” says Betty Shanahan, president of the Society of Women Engineers. “One of the things that helps to counter that is just being with other women and realizing what you’re experiencing is normal. It’s a humongous relief.”

At Pennsylvania State University, the foundation for that community is laid even before school starts. The university’s Women in Engineering Program’s three-day orientation matches freshmen with a mentor and a group of peers in the same major. Computer engineering major Lanlan Wang remembers feeling nervous at first, but she says, “The moment I walked into the program, my mentor knew my face.” By the time classes roll around, the girls know each other and many have become pals. “I made a lot of good friends that I still keep in touch with now,” Wang says.

Penn State and others further strengthen those bonds by giving their female students the option of living in all-engineering residence halls. About 20 years ago, Cinda-Sue Davis, the director of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program at the University of Michigan—which boasts a 27 percent graduation rate for women engineers—got the idea for the school’s WISE residence program after hearing a male colleague reminisce about living in an engineering fraternity house in college. “Forty guys lived in the house—that meant if someone failed out, they’d be stuck with splitting their share of rent, so they helped each other out with homework and advice on which professors to take,” Davis explains. While there’s no threat of eviction if one of these students drops out, the 150 women who live on Michigan’s WISE residence floor have a positive influence on each other nonetheless. “If they want to study calculus on a Friday night, they can do that and no one will put them down,” Davis says. “And if they want to party, they just have to go down a floor.”

Part of the mix in most programs is formal mentoring. Besides helping with schoolwork and advice, upperclassman mentors serve as role models to freshmen who may feel overwhelmed by the engineering workload. Even though she was at the top of her class in high school, recent Penn State bioengineering grad Erica Zerfoss says she still had her doubts about succeeding academically. “Having a mentor was great because the fact that she had made it made me feel I could do it, too.”

Not surprisingly, a few open faculty office doors can make a huge difference in whether a student sticks around or not. At Lafayette, where women make up more than 25 percent of engineering graduates, an open-door policy is de rigueur. “We expect faculty to be mentors, and that means that the doors are open and students can come and talk to us about not just academia but anything in their extracurricular lives,” says Director of Engineering Jim Schaffer. “When I came to Lafayette, I was shocked at how much time I spent talking to students and how much learning occurred in that setting.”

In the electrical computer engineering department of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, faculty members host potluck dinners every month. It’s important for students to see that professors, particularly women, are human, says Duke’s engineering dean, Kristina Johnson. “When times get tough in any institution, having that personal understanding of other people really pays off dividends.”

More Than Mentoring

But support programs alone can’t do it all. Research shows that women have different learning styles from men. Women tend to thrive in project-based learning rather than lecture courses, especially when there’s teamwork involved. As a result, schools are introducing design courses as early as the freshman year to give students a taste of what engineering is really like. At the University of Michigan, for example, students in marine engineering professor Lorelle Meadows’ Engineering 100 section build a greenhouse for nonprofit groups. “The class seems to attract far more women and minority students,” WISE’s director, Davis, says.

Whether it’s in a design class or a research project, an element of altruism has always been a big draw for women. “Engineering has to make explicit the societal value of engineering work, and that has had a disproportionate impact for populations that have been traditionally a minority,” says Norman Fortenberry, director of the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education at the National Academy of Engineering. “It translates to ‘How is this going to help my community more than being a doctor or a lawyer?’ We have those answers; we just need to provide them.”

Some, like Tufts University electrical engineering professor Karen Panetta, have had no problem getting the word out. In its fourth year, her “Nerd Girls” senior capstone project has brought together a team of undergraduate women from different engineering disciplines to develop solarization for a lighthouse on Thacher Island off the coast of Massachusetts. The project incorporates much of what attracts women to engineering, including a positive social impact and interdisciplinary teamwork. The results have surprised even Panetta. Besides being a big confidence booster, she says, “I really see a massive increase in their academic performance because they know how to attack problems.”

But Panetta is still a relative rarity in the world of engineering academia. Nationally only about 10 percent of tenure-track engineering faculty members are women. “Without women faculty, you aren’t going to attract women to the field,” says Duke’s Johnson. While Pratt has tripled the number of women on its tenure-track faculty since 1999, Johnson is working to expand an innovative pilot recruitment program with the goal of having women make up 30 percent of tenure-track faculty. Working with Duke women’s basketball coach Gail Goestenkors, Pratt has developed a recruiting style much like a college athletics department by identifying women as undergrads and cultivating them as they move on. “It’s moving away from a very passive approach to a very interactive approach,” explains Assistant Dean for New Inititiatives Marianne Risley.

While women have come a long way in engineering from the 1970s when they made up about 3 percent of undergrads, there’s plenty of room for improvement, says Susan Metz, co-founder of Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN) and senior adviser at the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at Stevens Institute of Technology. For the next step, Metz suggests schools consider offering new disciplines within engineering. “We really need to broaden the opportunities. Think in terms of pathways instead of pipelines.”

Peggy Loftus is a freelance writer based in Charleston, S. C.

Back to the index.

IV. Fellowship Programs

NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP)

The American Society for Engineering Education will be administering the 2006 NASA Faculty Fellowship Program (NFFP). 

NFFP is a ten week summer faculty research opportunity with a possible option for extended support during the academic year. You must be a full-time faculty member at a U.S. college or university. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to apply.

The online application is now open and can be found at http://www.asee.org/nffp, along with the list of participating Centers and other program details. You must complete your application by March 8, 2006.

Email nasa@asee.org if you have any questions regarding this faculty program.

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

This program is open to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents and offers a competitive stipend as well as insurance, relocation, and travel allowances.  This program offers one to three year postdoctoral fellowships designed to increase the involvement of scientists and engineers from academia and industry to scientific and technical areas of interest and relevance to the Navy.  This program has a rolling admission.  Go to: http://www.asee.org/nrl to learn more about the program.

Back to the index.

V. Call for Papers

2006 Global Colloquium on Engineering Education

The American Society for Engineering Education is seeking submissions for the 2006 Global Colloquium on Engineering Education. The Colloquium will have three themes of major contemporary interest:

• Primary and Secondary Education
• Engineering for the Americas
• Development of Curriculum for the Global Engineer

The focus of the Colloquium is on successful strategies for dealing with each of these issues.  We encourage contributions that detail examples of what actions are being taken and what works and why, with supporting evidence.  The deadline for abstract submission is 29 March, 2006.

The Call for Papers and Author's Kit are available at www.asee.org/gcee2006/.  For more information, please contact Jenn Atkinson, Program Coordinator, at j.atkinson@asee.org

Back to the index.

ASEE Announces New User Interface for K-12 Outreach Program Database

Regular users of the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database will now find the collection of K-12 and pre-college engineering, math, science, and technology programs easier to use and convenient to update.  By simply registering with the database, outreach program providers will now have access to the new user interface, allowing them to add, edit, and manage listings at anytime.  This feature will ensure that the most current information on engineering outreach programs is available to database searchers.

Home to hundreds of listings, the EngineeringK12 Center’s outreach program database is a great resource for parents, teachers, and students to search nationwide for an outreach program that matches their needs.  From lesson plans for teachers, to engineering summer camps for students, the database offers a wide variety of programs offered by universities, industry, and government.  Registration is only required to add and manage an outreach program in the database.  Registration is not required simply to search.

You can register to be an outreach program database user at: http://www.engineeringk12.org/educators/making_engineers_cool/search.cfm

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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