The State of the Use of Standards in Engineering and Technology Education

During the past several decades, the economy of each nation has been significantly affected by globalization and technology. Government regulations and private sector standards affect a majority of world trade. Countries have been working together to establish international standards in almost every field. As a result, workers in all sectors need to have an understanding of standards. Engineering and technology students must not only possess an understanding of engineering standards and applicable government codes, but also learn to apply them in designing, developing, testing and servicing products, processes and systems. ABET’s criteria for engineering and technology education require students to learn and apply standards in their class projects. This paper is a follow-up of a 2006-2009 NSF initiative awarded to IEEE to help develop tutorials and case study modules for students and encourage standards education at college campuses. It presents the findings of a faculty/institution survey conducted through Electrical Engineering and ETD listservs representing the major engineering and technology disciplines during fall 2012. The intent of the survey was to the gauge the status of use of standards and regulations in engineering and technology coursework and to identify benchmark practices. In light of survey findings, recommendations are made to standards development organizations, industry and academia to help enhance the use of standards in engineering and technology curricula. Introduction Who are the national and international stakeholders of Standards? In today’s global economy, the importance of the formal study of standards has been highlighted by the new demands of international trade. A number of national and international organizations provide guidance for developing and implementing standards to ensure product safety, such as American National Standards Institute (ANSI) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Association of Electrical, Electronic and Information Technology, Germany (VDE) Canadian Standards Association (CSA) European Commission of the European Union (CE) Federal Communications Commission (FCC) P ge 23233.2 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Underwriters Laboratories (UL) US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) At the national level, the ABET Criteria for Engineering programs also require students to incorporate engineering standards in their design experience 1 . The National Standards Strategy for the United States (NSS) demands increasing the endeavors to educate future leadership in engineering, business and public policy, on the role, value and importance of standards. 2 At the international level, Prof. Shiro Kurihara has proposed a Three-Wave Model for the spread of international Standardization 3 . The first wave is driven by scientists, engineers, and technologists; during this phase standards for technologies, products, manufacturing processes, and services are defined. The second wave started approximately two decades ago because of the application of network and digital technologies in communications. The main stakeholders in this phase are the corporate and business leaders who are interested in the development of standards and procedures for interoperable technologies to facilitate world trade. This phase takes approximately five years and is not suitable for products with shorter lifecycles. The third wave is driven by government and consumers and typically involves standards for services and for product maintenance to improve customer safety and satisfaction. This phase has necessitated the development of global standards and regulations in other areas, such as accounting, law, health, environment and safety. The three waves are interrelated, and input from each phase is fed back to the other phases leading to continuous improvement. In summary, the role of standards is: (i) significantly expanding since the creation of the Internet and the World Trade Organization (WTO), (ii) leading to an increased impact on business and society, and (iii) creating many more stakeholders. 4 What are the standards skillsets that all graduates must know? In 2003, a group of industry engineers and educators formed Standards in Education Task Force within IEEE to find the knowledge and skillset in standards that engineers and technologists must acquire before graduation. The process included faculty and student surveys to identify the current state of standards education. The task force made the following recommendation: 4 1. Engineering and technology graduates should receive a comprehensive introduction on standards. This includes information on how standards are developed, how they impact the development of product, process, or service and how they benefit a country’s economy. 2. Graduates should be familiar with key standards organizations in their disciplines and study standards or regulations in the context of an engineering case study. 3. Graduates should be able to identify and apply relevant standards in solving the expectations of an engineering design. P ge 23233.3 The IEEE task force also coordinated the development of educational materials to help engineering and technology programs incorporate standards education. What are the fundamental dynamics of standards? Harding (2011) observes that students need to develop an understanding of the interplay of three fundamental dynamics of standards: Technology, Economics, and Politics. In this regard students need to learn: a. How standards play a part in their career; b. How to think critically about standards development and technology solutions; c. About the pace of standards development in terms of technical change; d. How standards help drive innovation; e. How standards development process provides good technical solutions; f. Why standards are flexible. What are the needs of undergraduate and graduate students? Harding (2011) further notes that the state of standards education at the university level is diverse. There are different needs at the undergraduate and graduate levels: a. Undergraduate students require a basic level of understanding that standards and standards organizations exist. b. Students can use standards at the project level. c. Graduate students use standards related to specific fields of interest. d. Graduate students can explore the standards development process and the intersection with business interests. What are practical factors that hinder the inclusion of standards in the curricula? Some of the practical factors which hinder the inclusion of standards to the curricula are: 5 a. Institutions are overwhelmed by the quantity of currently required materials; b. Professors believe that they do not know enough about standards to teach the subject effectively or assess student work; c. Required materials for teaching standards do not exist. Harding (2011) observes that in addition to these, there is also a philosophical barrier, i.e., university education focuses on teaching the fundamental concepts and theories of engineering, and many professors believe that standards do not fit well in the foundation courses. What is the state and status of Standards education in academia? To gauge the state and status of standards education in academia, a faculty survey was conducted through Electrical Engineering and ETD listservs. The ETD listserv has a membership of more P ge 23233.4 than 3800 faculty members. The following is a summary of results and recommendations based on faculty input and feedback. Survey Results Question 1: Do you teach standards and regulations in your curricula? Out of 149 respondents, 71% said yes and 29% replied no. Question 2: Do students in your senior design course incorporate industrial standards and regulations in their senior design projects? Sixty-six percent of respondents said yes and thirty-four percent answered no. Question 3: Which organizational resources are available for your students to access standards documents? (check all that apply) One hundred forty-nine respondents answered and 2 respondents choose not answer this question (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Types of Organizational resources available for students to access standards documents. Question 4: What are the impediments to teaching and learning about technical standards? (check all that apply) One hundred forty-two respondents answered this question (see figure 2) and 9 respondents skipped this questions. The responses in terms of their percentages are listed below: 0 20 40 60 80 ANSI ASME ASTM IEEE ISO NIST None Other