Today's engineering professionals are faced with many technical challenges. It can be agreed that the majority of colleges and universities across the country do an excellent job of educating our engineering and engineering technology students. However, not all technically competent students are taught the art of verbal and written communication correctly. Yes, there are courses that attempt to instill these techniques into the student, but are students really getting the point? In fact, are the teachers who are teaching technical communications to these students providing adequate examples and demonstrating proper technique that specifically focuses on the student's future job market? From personal experience, it seems that only the very top students seem to be adequately prepared in this area. What about the rest? These folks seem to be falling behind the learning curve. This situation may take some time for these students to recover from. In industry, time is money. Only those students who have been prepared properly will advance quickly in an engineering environment. What can be done about this, if anything? The answer lies in a very simple concept-adequate practice and sufficient tools. Students must be prepared by being able to present technical ideas in professionally written and verbal formats. In order to do so, appropriate software tools of the trade must be mastered and practiced by the student to be successful. This paper chronicles the creation of a course that requires students to apply these software tools in a real industrially oriented venue. Software tools are discussed and examples shown. Students, currently working in industry, who have been exposed to this type of learning experience, in similar course venues, provide insight into the importance of such a course venue. An example of a project completed by a recent graduate is given to support this thesis. Foundational Needs Students, at all levels, acquire concepts more easily by putting in a sufficient amount of time in the art of practice. This idea may seem trivial, but many experts have said that continued practice is a major contributor to being successful in any field. Students can be made proficient in this art if they are required to present technical ideas in professionally prepared reports. Industrial experience has proven that communication skills will be the largest contributor to enhancing a student's technical career and advancement. Instilling this concept into students early on should be a top priority. In order for students to prepare properly written materials, they must have the appropriate tools to do so, be instructed on the operation and application of these tools, and be given the chance to practice.
This paper shows the importance of networking and building relationships to further development activities in an engineering technology department at a public institution, so that the department can increase in quality for its graduates. It will also show the results of what this process can bring about, i.e., creating a margin of excellence so that the department's programs can move to a higher level with the extra funds that this process can bring about.
The newspapers and recent popular books are heralding the era of globalization in a variety of fields the least of which is the fields of science, engineering, and engineering technology. This conference paper advocates the opinion that an engineering technology curriculum should focus on the following study areas: Energy, Bio-Engineering and BioTechnology , Building Engineering Services, Industrial and Robotic control, Security, Entrepreneurial Product Development, and Transportation in order to provide worthwhile student outcomes and hence satisfy employer objectives as defined by the ABET criteria established in 2000. Much detail is given to substantiate the need for such areas of expertise on behalf of the Engineering Technology student.
Designing a curriculum of courses based upon donated equipment can be made easier if the donors help with this task. Not only are equipment manufacturers the best sources for gaining donated state of the art equipment, but they can also be an important resource when it comes time to develop the actual course material and content needed for new courses involving the use and application of their equipment and products. Northeastern University's School of Engineering Technology has been fortunate to have received substantial laboratory equipment donations from major players in the Industrial Control Systems industry. These same players have generously contributed supplemental training materials in addition to their own time to assist in developing course curriculum for our program. This paper addresses the construction of this new curriculum and in particular the part industry has played. The results of a pilot courseprogram conducted in the Fall of 1999 are included along with comments from participating students.
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