Enhancement Of Faculty Design Capabilities

A crucial factor affecting U. S. productivity is the decline in the quality of engineering design. The response of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology to the pressures to strengthen under- graduate design requirements has not only not improved design education significantly, but has resulted in more programs not meeting the established standards. Vital to the strengthening of the design requirement is the improvement of faculty design capabilities. The two-week workshop on Enhancement of Faculty Design Capabilities held at Southern Methodist University from July31 -August 10, 1995 is part of a three-year plan for enhancing engineering design skills of faculty from all engineering disciplines. Engineering i%culty participating in this workshop developed and documented 70 design exercises for use in the engineering sciences: mechanics of solids, electrical theory, fluid mechanics, and transfer and rate mechanisms. A significant number of these exercises were developed for introduction into the first year course with the potential for follow-on activities in the engineering science courses. Emphasis was placed on developing design materials which could be integrated throughout the engineering curriculum and which were easily transportable to engineering programs at other institutions. The Need for Improving Design Education