Becoming a Professional Engineering Educator: A New Role for a New Era

Engineering education faces significant challenges as it seeks to meet the demands on the engineering profession in the twenty‐first century. Engineering faculty will need to continue to learn new approaches to teaching and learning, which in turn will require effective professional development for both new and experienced instructors alike. This article explores approaches to effective professional development and provides a conceptual framework for responding to the challenge of becoming a professional engineering educator. The “cycle of professional practice” is introduced as a prelude for identifying what individual professors and their institutions can do to generate more powerful forms of engineering education. The article concludes with two case studies that illustrate the possibilities when faculty and academic leaders join together in addressing calls for change.     

Applying an Integrated Systems Perspective to the Management of Engineering Projects

Engineering projects can be subject to significant complexity, which may result in a number of issues and challenges that need to be addressed throughout the project life-cycle. Traditionally projects have been viewed according to the so called “iron triangle,” i. e., achievement of project milestones according to schedule, cost and quality targets. While these targets are fundamentally important to the performance of engineering projects, it is possible to view projects on a systemic level in order to allow an adequate focus on all the underpinning factors that have the potential to influence the performance of projects. Consequently, a management framework has been developed that is based on an integrated systems perspective of engineering projects, where the performance of projects is a function of six contributing sub-systems that are: process, technology, resources, knowledge, culture and impact.     

Mind the gap: The AURORAL ecosystem for the digital transformation of smart communities and rural areas

Rural areas play a crucial role in addressing challenges related to climate change, food provision, biomass, and energy. At the same time, digital solutions have proven essential in improving safety, quality of life, and resilience in daily life. However, the lower population density and the lack of digital infrastructure in such rural areas make it difficult to develop technology-driven private businesses and public services. This can negatively impact socio-economic indicators and hinder the development of new services to cover peoples’ needs. For this reason, in this document, we seek to provide a stronger focus on rural regions in digitalization efforts and create new opportunities for rural communities. For that, we analyze the barriers and needs of the rural environment and present AURORAL, a digital service platform designed to meet the needs and contexts of rural areas. This ecosystem, comprising sustainable and multi-interoperable apps and services, can help communities succeed in innovation and smart transformation, providing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate long-lasting social, environmental, and economic benefits by prioritizing openness, interoperability, and decentralization. On the principle that the full potential of these technologies can only be realized when they are integrated into societal and economic activity and organization, AURORAL aims to promote economic growth and digitalization in the rural domain and contribute to bridging the digital divide between rural and urban areas.     

Transitioning defence aerospace support solution to service commercial sector maintenance repair and overhaul

Civil aviation as an industry has driven continued growth using third party MRO providers. This growing market attracted Defence organisations to explore the business opportunities of servicing in the commercial sector but they will face significant risks to overcome a large initial handicap before they can compete. This research compares the service requirements of MRO systems in defence sector and commercial sector to identify gaps between the two servicescapes. This paper contributes to defining the servicescapes between defence and commercial MRO service systems and enables the relevant service providers to be responsive to customer requests, but with scope to tailor the final design, and identify system efficiencies in the transition. A new support system is then designed for the defence organisations leverage off experience in the design and support of military aircraft to migrate to adjacent market.     

Review of urban traffic management and the impacts of new vehicle technologies

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in most urban areas across the world. In recent years, the problem has often been tackled by management of existing capacity rather than the traditional concept of more road building. This requires efficient traffic management tools and has led to widespread implementation of advanced traffic control systems integrated within a wider urban traffic management (UTM) environment. UTM systems collect data from various sources, process and manage the data and use this information to implement various measures to manage traffic. While infrastructure-based UTM systems continue to develop, there is now also a rapid market-driven development of vehicle technologies and invehicle driver support systems. Driver information and satellite navigation (sat-nav) systems are two examples already in widespread use, whereas other applications under research and development include intelligent speed adaptation (ISA), adaptive cruise control (ACC) and various other safety-related applications. This study will firstly present state-of-the-art reviews of UTM and in-vehicle systems. It will then discuss the potential impacts of new in-vehicle systems on UTM and opportunities for beneficial cooperation between the two. The research described in the study has been undertaken within a collaborative project FUTURES, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).     

Network Competition and the Provision of Universal Service

As providers of basic infrastructure services, telecommunicationsproviders have traditionally been required to provide servicesand to serve customers that would not provide a reasonable returnon investment in an unregulated marketplace. Today there arestill important telecommunications policy goals that are unlikelyto be achieved through competition alone. A successful transitionfrom monopoly to competition requires the development of newmechanisms for achieving these goals that do not impede competitionin services and in geographic areas where it would otherwisebe feasible. This paper examines the problem of providing basictelephone service to low income households in urban areas largeenough to support two or more competing providers of telephoneservice. It shows that there are plausible circumstances underwhich, even without public support, low income households unwillingto pay the cost of connection to the public network will stillbe provided service by telephone companies who want to makethem available to other subscribers willing to pay more. Thiscan happen if there is a mechanism that allows service providersto accurately distinguish between low income and high incomesubscribers.     

Metal matrix composites – From science to technological significance

Over the past two decades – a period coinciding with publication of Composites Science and Technology – metal matrix composites (MMCs) have been transformed from a topic of scientific and intellectual interest to a material of broad technological and commercial significance. The worldwide MMC markets in 1999 accounted for 2500 metric tons valued at over $100M. Important MMC applications in the ground transportation (auto and rail), thermal management, aerospace, industrial, recreational and infrastructure industries have been enabled by functional properties that include high structural efficiency, excellent wear resistance, and attractive thermal and electrical characteristics. A suite of challenging technical issues has been overcome, including affordable primary and secondary processing, material design and development methodologies, and characterization and control of interfacial properties. This article describes the technological features that characterize the MMC industry. Matrix/reinforcement systems and primary and secondary processes of commercial significance will be broadly described. Several metrics that underscore the growing maturity of the MMC industry will be discussed, including the emergence of a second tier support industry and the growth of standardized materials and methods. MMC applications in the major markets of ground transportation, thermal management, aerospace, industrial, recreational and infrastructure will be described. Successful commercialization strategies will be discussed and insights for achieving expanded MMC applications will be given. A forward look at candidate approaches for the next generation of MMCs will be provided, including projections of new MMC paradigms.     

Engineering management for high-end equipment intelligent manufacturing

The high-end equipment intelligent manufacturing (HEIM) industry is of strategic importance to national and economic security. Engineering management (EM) for HEIM is a complex, innovative process that integrates natural science, technology, management science, social science, and the human spirit. New-generation information technology (IT), including the internet, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, have made a remarkable influence on HEIM and its engineering management activities, such as product system construction, product life cycle management, manufacturing resources organization, manufacturing model innovation, and reconstruction of the enterprise ecosystem. Engineering management for HEIM is a key topic at the frontier of international academic research. This study systematically reviews the current research on issues pertaining to engineering management for HEIM under the new-generation IT environment. These issues include cross-lifecycle management, network collaboration management, task integration management of innovative development, operation optimization of smart factories, quality and reliability management, information management, and intelligent decision making. The challenges presented by these issues and potential research opportunities are also summarized and discussed.     

Production system design to achieve energy savings in an automotive paint shop

Vehicle painting typically consumes the largest amount of energy in an automotive assembly plant. Effective reduction of energy usage in paint shops will lead to significant savings. Substantial effort has been devoted to reducing energy usage in paint shops through renovating the painting process and equipment. In this paper, we introduce a case study at an automotive paint shop to show that the energy consumption can be reduced significantly through production system design. Specifically, by selecting the appropriate repair capacity, the number of repainted jobs can be reduced, and less material and energy will be consumed. In addition, less atmospheric emissions would be generated during the painting process. Such a technique does not need to invent new chemicals, new painting processes or new control systems in painting booths and ovens. It provides an alternative way for energy and emission reduction to achieve energy-efficient and environmentally friendly manufacturing.     

Bond graph analysis in robust engineering design

Within engineering design, optimization often involves building models of working systems to improve design objectives such as performance, reliability and cost. Bond graph models express systems in terms of energy flow and can be used to identify key factors that influence system behaviour. Robust Engineering Design (RED) is a strategy for the optimization of systems through experimentation and empirical modelling; however, experiments can often be prohibitively expensive for large or complex systems. By using bond graphs as a front‐end to RED, experiments on systems could be designed more efficiently, reducing the number of experiments required for accurate empirical modelling. Two case study examples are given which show that bond graphs can be used to good effect in the empirical analysis of engineering systems. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Situational Awareness in Construction and Facility Management

Engineers and managers involved in construction and facility/infrastructure operations need situational awareness about the as-is conditions when making daily decisions and developing short- and long-term plans. Yet, currently situational awareness of engineers is often challenged due to missing data and the available data not being in a format that is easily accessible and actionable. Advances in reality capture technologies, such as 3-dimensional (3D) imaging, in-situ sensing, equipment on-board instrumentation and electronic tagging, streamline the capturing of the as-is conditions on job sites. The data collected from these technologies, integrated with building information models depicting the as-planned conditions, can help in creating and storing the history of as-is conditions of a facility to support a variety of decisions that engineers and managers need to make. While the opportunities associated with integrating building information models and data capture technologies are compelling, several challenges need to be addressed through research for effective usage of these technologies. Such challenges include assessing the accuracy of the data collected at the field, developing and evaluating data processing and data fusion approaches, formalizing integrated representation of building information models and sensor and other relevant data, and investigating and developing approaches for analyzing and visualizing such integrated information models. This paper provides examples of recent research studies done at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University that demonstrate opportunities associated with integrating building information models and sensor information for facility operations.     

Methods and tools for decision making in engineering design

This paper describes the background to the setting up of the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre. An overview of the design research and applications programme of the Cambridge EDC is given. Four research themes are identified: functional modelling, configuration and manufacturing optimization, materials and process selection, and process interpretation and management. Application areas include aerospace systems, heavy duty vehicles and medical equipment.     

Advancement of the Engineering Management Body of Knowledge

Trade around the world has become globally interconnected. Engineers play an integral role in designing products, managing supply chains, providing services, and increasing the quality of life for people and promoting sustainable development around the globe. Engineering managers make decisions every day that will have profound impacts on international suppliers, customers, partners, consumers, and the environment. Traditional education for engineering students focuses on the technical aspects and scientific principles. Education in some countries may focus exclusively on mathematics, science, and engineering topics. The North American model incorporates a general education component into the undergraduate program of study to give students a broad appreciation of ideas ranging from art to literature to the social sciences. This paper will investigate how undergraduate engineering management programs educate their students to be able to work in international settings or in the global workplace. This initial study will concentrate on the engineering management programs that are accredited by ABET, an international organization that accredits technical programs in higher education. ABET has accredited over 3,400 programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology in 28 countries. This study will access publicly available information to determine the breadth and depth of education related to helping prepare engineering management students to work in a global marketplace. These data will be collected from the programs accredited by ABET using the “Engineering Management” program criteria, due to the public availability of this information. Initial findings will be presented, and may serve to identify opportunities for cooperation and further work.     

Faculty and Student Attitudes Toward Community Service: A Comparative Analysis

The Humanitarian Engineering initiative, sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at the Colorado School of Mines, is creating a program that will support engineering students in understanding their responsibility for solving community development problems that exist throughout the world. As part of this effort, data has been collected on faculty and student attitudes using the ‘Community Service Attitudes Scale,” developed and validated by Shiarella, McCarthy, and Tucker. During the fall 2004, 78 students and 34 faculty members responded to this instrument. Statistically significant differences were found between the attitudes of students and faculty, males and females, and among different age groupings with respect to service activities. A general finding was that faculty displayed better attitudes toward community service than the students.     

Engineering Informatics: State of the Art and Future Trends

Engineering informatics is an emerging engineering discipline integrating information technology or informatics with a variety of engineering disciplines. It is an interdisciplinary scientific subject focusing on applying advanced information and communications technology (ICT) to a variety of engineering disciplines. Rapid advances in industrial information integration methods have spurred the growth of new techniques that can be used for probing industrial information integration including engineering informatics. These techniques include business process management (BPM), enterprise architecture (EA), enterprise application integration (EAI), service-oriented architecture (SOA), and others. Practical applications may require a combination of these techniques that have originated from different disciplines. These techniques have the potential to contribute to engineering informatics. For integrating complex engineering systems, both formal methods and systems methods are crucial. In this paper, we briefl review the state of the art of engineering informatics as it interfacing with industrial information integration.     

A method for the efficient prioritization of infrastructure renewal projects

The infrastructure renewal program at MIT consists of a large number of projects with an estimated budget that could approach $1 billion. Infrastructure renewal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the process of evaluating and investing in the maintenance of facility systems and basic structure to preserve existing campus buildings. The selection and prioritization of projects must be addressed with a systematic method for the optimal allocation of funds and other resources. This paper presents a case study of a prioritization method utilizing multi-attribute utility theory. This method was developed at MIT's Department of Nuclear Engineering and was deployed by the Department of Facilities after appropriate modifications were implemented to address the idiosyncrasies of infrastructure renewal projects and the competing criteria and constraints that influence the judgment of the decision-makers. Such criteria include minimization of risk, optimization of economic impact, and coordination with academic policies, programs, and operations of the Institute. A brief overview of the method is presented, as well as the results of its application to the prioritization of infrastructure renewal projects. Results of workshops held at MIT with the participation of stakeholders demonstrate the feasibility of the prioritization method and the usefulness of this approach.     

气象通信网络和计算机系统工程

气象通信网络和计算机系统作为我国气象事业的信息基础设施,经过近30年的建设和发展,在网络化和计算机应用方面已经取得长足的进步。面向21世纪,中国气象事业在现有基础上将有较大的飞跃和发展,气象信息基础设施将随着国家信息化的发展进程而得到进一步的巩固和发展。章通过对气象通信网络和计算机系统的发展介绍,来说明气象部门的现代化系统工程建设及其工程化应用状况。     

Life sciences issues affecting space exploration

The U.S. space program is undertaking a serious examination of new initiatives in human space exploration involving permanent colonies on the Moon and an outpost on Mars. Life scientists have major responsibilities to the crew, to assure their health, productivity, and safety throughout the mission and the postflight rehabilitation period; to the mission, to provide a productive working environment; and to the scientific community, to advance knowledge and understanding of human adaptation to the space environment. Critical areas essential to the support of human exploration include protection from the radiation hazards of the space environment, reduced gravity countermeasures, artificial gravity, medical care, life support systems, and behavior, performance, and human factors in an extraterrestrial environment. Developing solutions to these concerns is at the heart of the NASA Life Sciences ground-based and flight research programs. Facilities analogous to planetary outposts are being considered in Antarctica and other remote settings. Closed ecological life support systems will be tested on Earth and Space Station. For short-duration simulations and tests, the Space Shuttle and Spacelab will be used. Space Station Freedom will provide the essential scientific and technological research in areas that require long exposures to reduced gravity conditions. In preparation for Mars missions, research on the Moon will be vital. As the challenges of sustaining humans on space are resolved, advances in fundamental science, medicine and technology will follow.     

Inheritance and Innovation of Engineering Management Informatization

In the life-cycle of large projects, the operational phase lasts the longest, costs the most and substantially benefits the project. During the whole phase, energy, material and human resources may cost a lot. Effective control of such costs is one of the main targets of engineering management informatization. How to lower the organization collaboration cost in project management and how to support effective collaboration among different areas, organizations and departments in the ways of technology and management are major goals in engineering management informatization. In the phase of project operation, project owners, partners and customers are the stakeholders of engineering management informatization. Through the case of airport management informatization, inherited and innovation of engineering management informatization will be discussed. It is illustrated that airport informatization is the innovation of business model and technology applications through the analysis and study on cases of airport informatization.