WPI Taking the Lead in Engineering Education

WPI Taking the Lead in Engineering Education

By September 29, 2011

thumb book coverIn the past two decades we’ve seen a plethora of studies, reports, and books that articulate the shortcomings of engineering education and what is lacking in the curriculum. They remind us that it hasn’t changed much in the last few decades, though the world has changed dramatically. Many of these studies focus on identifying the problem and the general needs, rather than outlining specific proposals on how to educate the engineer of the 21st Century.

Grétar Tryggvason, former head of Mechanical Engineering at WPI, and I decided to write a user’s manual that describes how to do it. Its title, Shaping Our World: Engineering Education for the 21st Century, represents our belief that through a holistic education we will ensure the development of the next generation of successful global leaders and engineers. The book is being published by Wiley, and will be released at the MS&T meeting in Columbus, Ohio, October 16–20.

Table of Contents:

Foreword

  • Charles M. Vest, President, U.S. National Academy of Engineering

Preface

  • Diran Apelian, Professor and Director, MPI, WPI, and Grétar Tryggvason, Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame

The Need and Context

Meeting New Challenges: Transforming Engineering Education

  • Grétar Tryggvason, Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, and Diran Apelian, Professor and Director, MPI, WPI

One World: Preparing Engineers for the Global Economy

  • Michael J. Dolan, Senior Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corporation

Engineers: Leaders, Innovators and Builders

  • Diran Apelian, Professor and Director, MPI, WPI

Holistic Education: Learning and Doing in Context

  • Dennis D. Berkey, President, WPI

Effective Practices

Ignition: The Great Problems Seminars

  • Arthur C. Heinricher, Dean, Undergraduate Studies, WPI and Kristin Wobbe, Associate Dean, First Year Experience, WPI

Global Citizenship: Students Solving Real Problems Around the World

  • Richard F. Vaz, Dean, Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Program, WPI, Natalie A. Mello, and David DiBiasio, Associate Professor and Department Head, Chemical Engineering, WPI

Fostering Citizenship and Advocacy through the Humanities and Arts, WPI

  • Svetlana Nikitina, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Interdisciplinary First Year Studies, Humanities and Arts, WPI, and David Spanagel, Assistant Professor, Humanities and Arts, WPI

The Capstone Project: An Integrated Experience

  • Fred J. Looft, Professor and Department Head, Electrical and Computer Engineering, WPI, and Yiming Rong, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, WPI

Technical Education in the Innovation Economy

  • Curtis R. Carlson, President and CEO, SRI International, and Jerome J. Schaufeld, Professor of Practice, School of Business, WPI

A New Discipline for a New Century: Robotics Engineering

  • Michael A. Gennert, Associate Professor and Director, Robotics Engineering, WPI, Fred J. Looft, Professor and Department Head, Electrical and Computer Engineering, WPI, and Grétar Tryggvason, Viola D. Hank Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame

Graduate Education for the Professional Engineer

  • Richard D. Sisson, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Director of Graduate Studies, WPI and Nikolaos A. Gatsonis, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, WPI

Holistic Graduate Education: Fire Protection Engineering

  • Kathy A. Notarianni, Associate Professor and Department Head, Fire Protection Engineering, WPI

Outcomes and Implications

Forty Years of Outcomes Based Project Centric Education: Lessons Learned

  • John Orr, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, WPI

So Much Accomplished – So Much to be Done

  • Eli Fromm, Roy A. Brothers University Research Professor and Director of the Center for Educational Research, Drexel University


Comments are closed.