In GCC Universities Which Electrical and Computer Engineering Curricula are Really Needed: Flexible or Specialized? Muhammad Taher Abuelma’atti King Fahd.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe H.G. Wells, The Outline of History.
Advertisements

Transforming Engineering Education The Road Ahead 2/8/2014 Moshe Kam, IEEE Transforming Engineering Education Program Chair Drexel University.
National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies 1 Phase II: Educating the 2020 Engineer Phase II: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century...
OverviewOverview – Preparation – Day in the Life – Earnings – Employment – Career Path Forecast – ResourcesPreparationDay in the LifeEarningsEmploymentCareer.
Zagreb, November 2004TEMPUS RUCE Workshop: BSc in CE1 Restructuring Civil Engineering Curricula at the University of Zagreb: BSc Antun Szavits-Nossan University.
Department of Mechanical Engineering Presentation by Professor M. V. Otugen The Mechanical Engineering Program.
RESTRUCTURING THE ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA Muhammad Taher Abuelma’atti King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran-Saudi Arabia.
Engineering Education in Saudi Arabia: Problems and Solutions
As presented to the Global Colloquium on Engineering Education Deborah Wolfe, P.Eng. October 2008 The Canadian Process for Incorporating Outcomes Assessment.
Back to Today’s ppt Introduction to Engineering l Definitions l Technology Team l Engineering Disciplines l Engineering Functions l Career Paths l ABET.
1 Graduates’ Attributes : EMF, EUR-ACE and Federal Educational Standards Alexander I. Chuchalin, Chair of the RAEE Accreditation Board Graduates’ Attributes.
Workshop: Translating graduate attributes into classroom learning A/Prof Simon Barrie Institute for Teaching and Learning Hong Kong Institute of Education.
The Accounting Faculty Dilemma CFBSD: Accounting Working Group November 18, 2013 Tim Daus, Sandy Hilton, Tom Scott.
2 The key challenge to maintain a robust petroleum industry is ensuring an adequate supply of well trained professionals now and in future The development.
INCORPORATING INDUSTRY NEEDS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS Dr. Samir Al-Baiyat Dean College of Engineering Sciences and Acting Dean College of Applied Engineering.
Innovative Practices in TVET towards Education for Sustainable Development.
Connecting Academics into Career and Technical Education Presented by: Travis Ridley Colonial Heights High School.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering CSCE 190 Computing in the Modern World CSE Curricula Fall 2014 Marco Valtorta.
Job Descriptions Presented by: Peggy Accuardi Compensation 1.
School of Business University of Bridgeport Admissions Presentation Robert Gilmore, Ph.D. Associate Dean School of Business.
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH Muhammad Taher Abuelma’atti Department of Electrical Engineering King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Postgraduate Engineering Education in the Arab World: What is Really Needed? Muhammad Taher Abuema’atti King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.
EE 399 Lecture 6 Writing CV ’ s and Guidelines for Successful Interviews.
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION EXPERIENCE AT KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS S.A. Al-Baiyat, M.T. Abuelma'atti, O.A. Al-Suwailem, I.M. Budaiwi, S.A.M.
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006.
College Strategic Plan by Strategic Planning and Quality Assurance Committee.
Higher Education - Looking Forward An Educator’s Perspective: A thousand year old industry on the cusp of profound change IUA Symposium, Dublin 29th September.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering CSCE 190 Computing in the Modern World CSE Curricula Spring 2010 Marco Valtorta.
Announcing BSENG Bachelor of Software Engineering Faculty of Engineering University of Victoria
OVERVIEW OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING.
Program Improvement Committee Report Larry Caretto College Faculty Meeting December 3, 2004.
ABET Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
2 This statement shows how important the education process is which prepares the next generation of engineers to fulfill the industry needs. But this.
Challenges of Higher Education in Cyprus Efstathios Michael Senior Education Officer Department of Higher and Tertiary Education Ministry of education.
1 Linking Science Education to Labour Markets: Issues and Strategies Keith M Lewin.
1 Sustaining Technical Programs The NSF’s Advanced Technological Education Program and American Competitiveness Mike Lesiecki, MATEC A Member of the Academic.
Education Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education Began the Master’s of Special Education program in January of 2011 Professional After graduation Sorensen.
RESERCHERS ABOUT LATVIAN EMPLOYERS’ COMPETENCE REQUIREMENT FROM HIGHER EDUCATION GRADUATES IVARS MUZIS Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management.
Interdisciplinary Business Education: Combining the Power of Inter-professional Collaboration with the Benefits of Student Engagement Alan Belasen, Ph.D.,
Keeping the End in Mind: The Rigor of College and Career Readiness in Virginia Dr. Linda Wallinger Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Virginia Department.
Week 3 – Interdisciplinary Nature of Studying Organizations
Year Seven Self-Evaluation Workshop OR Getting from Here to There Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Department of Computer Science and Engineering CSCE 190 Careers in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Computer Information.
Higher education and professional work José-Ginés Mora Technical University of Valencia, Spain.
PAWS 4 Page 5.  No! Career/Technical Pathway programs offer a broad range of training for a wide variety of career pathways and many aspects of a broad.
Information Systems. What are Information Systems? The largest growth in most economies is coming from 'information' industries. The success of such knowledge-based.
Computer Engineering Department College of Computer Sciences and Engineering.
INTERPRETING LABOR MARKET INFORMATION DATA LMIwise: Your guide to regional supply and demand data.
1 Historical Perspective... Historical Perspective... Science Education Reform Efforts Leading to Standards-based Science Education.
NSF IGERT proposals Yang Zhao Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Wayne State University.
Continuing Education and Curricula for RAC and CE Applications CIWMB CSU, Chico CIWMB CSU, Chico Prepared for Meeting with CIWMB March 7, 2007 Prepared.
EDAMBA Annual Meeting and General Assembly 2009 Internationalisation of doctoral studies Maj-Britt Hedvall Hanken School of Economics Hanken Svenska handelshögskolan.
NCATE for Dummies AKA: Everything You Wanted to Know About NCATE, But Didn’t Want to Ask.
New Perspectives on Engineering Education and the Job Market: Challenges, Opportunities Dr. Samir AL-Baiyat Dean, College of Engineering Sciences, King.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Rebecca Mathews Period 4. JOB DESCRIPTION  Mechanical engineering: discipline that applies the principles of engineering, physics,
COMPUTER HARDWARE ENGINEERING Created by: Spencer Cho Period 6 Intro to Engineering Design.
1 Trends in Computer Science Education ABU, Zaria, July 17, 2006 Trends in Computer Science Education Sahalu Junaidu, PhD Information and Computer Science.
Computer Engineering Department (KFUPM) Computer Engineering Department Sadiq M. Sait College of Computer Sciences and Engineering.
N ational Q ualifications F ramework N Q F Quality Center National Accreditation Committee.
Careers in Health Care INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH CAREERS.
BY: SHAIFALI RACHNA PURI. ACADEMIC RECORD (Marks in qualifying degrees) ACADEMIC RECORD (Marks in Higher Degrees ) ACADEMIC RECORD (Marks in entrance.
The “Tuning Texas” Initiative Facilitating the Preparedness and Transfer of Students from 2-Year to 4-Year Institutions in High-Need and High-Demand Disciplines:
National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies 1 National Academy of Engineering Engineer of 2020 Project Wm. A. Wulf.
BA in Applied Research & Data Analytics Dr. Julie Kiotas Professor of Psychology 1.
HLC Criterion Three Primer: Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support Thursday, September 24, :40 – 11:40 a.m. Event Center.
Student Activities Centralized Training
Assessment and Accreditation
Gareth Downey – Senior Manager Vocational Qualifications
Computer Science Section
Presentation transcript:

In GCC Universities Which Electrical and Computer Engineering Curricula are Really Needed: Flexible or Specialized? Muhammad Taher Abuelma’atti King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Box 203 Dhahran Saudi Arabia

What is said? 1.For years, industry has complained that new electrical and computer engineering graduates fall short on the practical engineering skills that would make them more productive in the real world. 2. Electrical and computer engineering graduates are needed in many professional areas like marketing, manufacturing, development, and research.

3. Undergraduates should be exposed to basic science and engineering with a focus on their: a. communication skills. b. interpersonal skills-such as empathy with team members. c. self-management skills. d. computing skills. e. ability to defend ideas without generating confrontations.

But is it possible to achieve this? With the four-year baccalaureate program is full and overflowing, it appears that the electrical and computer engineering education is faced with a near-impossible task.

Restructuring Electrical and Computer Engineering Curricula ● The traditional curricula, designed to produce people who knew everything about their own fields and nothing else, can not work well in today’s environment. ● Unfortunately, most of the faculties, designing curricula in GCC universities, are far removed from engineering as it is practiced. Most of them have never practiced engineering in the field.

● In the GCC countries industry is essentially an applied one with very little basic research. ● In GCC countries the vast majority of engineering graduates are employed as technologists. Therefore, demand for highly specialized engineers and researchers is limited.

How to Achieve Restructuring? 1. Less expansion of universities and the establishment of higher technical institutes or introducing technology programs to current universities. 2.The status of technologists should be boosted by awarding them engineer status in the form of a B.Sc. degree. 3.Employers should hire ‘engineers’ or ‘technologists’ according to the skills required and there should be no discrimination between the two types in terms of salary. 4.New textbooks specially dedicated for technological education are strongly needed. Currently, most textbooks are written for use in research universities.

5. What is expected of the faculty in traditional university engineering degree programs differs from what is expected in a university that provides a bachelor’s in engineering technology. The difference is illustrated by the background of faculty members. Appointment as a professor of engineering typically requires a doctorate, a publication history, and the ability to attract grants. Often, people with these credentials have no industrial experience. On the other hand, to be an engineering technology faculty member, one either has to have a master’s in the discipline or a master’s degree plus professional registration and at least four years of recent industrial experience. These criteria are fixed by the ABET. Differing faculty requirements affect the curriculum predictably.

GENERALIZED OR SPECIALIZED CURRICULUM? ● Over the years large industries have pressured academia to maintain a general and broadly based introductory course structure. ● Young graduates and small industries have agitated for earlier specialization to make graduates more directly useful when leaving the university. ● This last pressure is enhanced by academics pushing their own interests into undergraduate programs.

Increasingly faced with the problem of trying to keep up with the rapid advances in technology without adding material to overburdened four-year engineering curricula, engineering departments began to develop more specialized curricula. Examples of this curricular entrepreneurship can be seen in the number of new engineering degrees beginning to appear.

● Both specialized and generalized generic curricula appear to be capable of fulfilling the long-term needs of industry. ● The value of a general curriculum is linked to the breadth of technical contribution that emerging graduates are prepared to deliver. ● The value of specialized curricula is linked more to the depth of technical contribution that graduates are prepared to deliver. Clearly, there may be profound value in both approaches, but there are also down sides.

Specialized Curriculum 1. Provide sufficient depth of content to allow entry-level engineers to make more immediate contributions. 2.This must be afforded by eliminating one or more fundamental courses, possibly limiting the ability of emerging specialists to grow and evolve with technological advances. 3.An increased rate of technical obsolescence may be a by-product. 4.Educational institutions must also be careful to ensure the long-term relevancy of proposed specializations taken as a whole, as well as the constituent courses.

5. New specializations will introduce new challenges in accreditation and standards for entry into advanced degree programs. 6. Have a strong appeal and value to industries engaged in technical disciplines that require a substantial degree of specialized knowledge beyond that provided by traditional engineering curricula. 7. May reduce the costs of corporate training at the entry level. However, savings at the entry level may be offset by an increase in costs to replace or retain an experienced professional workforce as technological advances continue.

Generalized Curriculum 1.Aimed at providing entry-level graduates with a profound understanding of broad and universally important principles, as well as abilities to learn and adapt to technological advances. 2.Practical limitations on the volume and scope of curriculum content have not kept pace with the specialized knowledge required to make relevant technical contributions at the entry level. 3.Specialized knowledge is often gained at corporate expenses through “on-the-job” training or financial support for graduate studies. 4.Corporate support for training and graduate studies has become increasingly risky. Industries experiencing a professional workforce shortage are often forced to compete for the services of the very people they trained.

What to Do? The author favours a more general engineering curriculum as the predominant mode of undergraduate engineering study in addition to a limited number of specialized curricula running for specific periods depending on the local industry needs. The needs of the engineering community will continue to diversify, and a general curriculum that attempts to optimize over the conflicting attributes of generality and specialization will also be of great value and may indeed have the strongest appeal.

What is Next? ● As a first step in this direction, the author strongly believes that it is time to merge the electrical engineering and computer engineering degree programs in a single integrated bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. ● The courses offered can be grouped into five or more technical areas ranging from traditional electrical engineering to computer software. ● The new curriculum can stress a balance of breadth and depth among five or more technical areas, rather than demand a specific set of courses.

GRADUATE PROGRAMS ● The advanced degrees are degrees of specialization; they apply more to countries with highly industrialized societies and front-line industry. ● In smaller countries with less highly developed industry, specialization courses should be designed carefully and after thorough study of the market to which they are addressed, so that they will not lead to graduate unemployment.

● Narrow specializations may be necessary in some large industrialized countries, but may be an unnecessary luxury in smaller ones, such as GCC countries. ● Establishment of graduate studies in GCC universities must be carefully considered. The direction, the depth and the number of graduate programs should reflect the capacity and trends of the local market and the country’s research needs. ● To adopt effective education programs from good technical universities of large, highly industrialized countries, without modification and adaptation to local conditions, may prove to be a great mistake. It may lead to unemployment and an unjustified waste of money.

CONCLUSION To restructure electrical and computer engineering education we must first and foremost change educator’s attitudes. Only then can engineering schools produce the open- minded and versatile modern engineers capable of making improvements to our quality of life. The idea is to graduate an engineer who can serve the needs of the local industry. This would reduce the structural unemployment and stop the brain drain of overqualified graduates.

Conclusion ● The establishment of new departments and/or narrow specialized programs is not generally a healthy trend. ● Restructure the existing electrical and computer engineering departments in order to minimize the overlap among these departments and to train new graduates to serve the local industries needs. ● Reduce narrow specialization programs to a very limited number running for specific periods depending on the local industries needs. The needs of engineering community will continue to diversify, and a general, rather than specialized, curriculum will be of great value and may indeed have the strongest appeal.