Impact Of Applied Research In Engineering Technology

Due to the applied nature of engineering technology programs, it is important that engineering technology faculty stay current to incorporate new technology in their courses and curriculum. It is however difficult for engineering technology faculty to conduct research during the regular semester time because of the hands-on nature of their programs and other college commitments. This paper presents the result of authors involvement in applied sponsored research, and discusses the impact on the development of courses and curriculum in the department of electrical engineering technology at the State university of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome. INTRODUCTION State University of New York (SUNY) Institute of Technology is an upper division transfer college for students who have completed their first two years of higher education at a community college. It also offers graduate programs in accounting, advanced technology, business, computer science and telecommunications. University research in engineering, according to Lester A. Gerhardt [1] is both a process and a product. It serves to create an environment for engineering education that enhances classroom teaching in terms of relevance and what is taught and how it is taught. A good teacher is often the most active researcher. Further it is the integration of research into teaching which is being adopted by increasing number of educators. It is claimed by these educators that incorporating research examples into their courses and curricula and collaborating with students on research projects result into better research. In addition, the students gain important insight into engineering and science concepts as applied to real life problems [2]. Research is traditionally conducted by the engineering faculty at the universities with graduate programs who can bring research grants and use graduate students to help conduct it. Applied research at institutions offering engineering technology programs is becoming important due to the change in technology and the resulting change in the contents of courses in their programs. It is also important for the faculty to stay current in order to teach effectively and be able to develop new courses in their curriculum. In addition, the business and accrediting agencies are putting pressure on engineering technology programs to make teaching more industryoriented. Collaborative and joint research between the engineering technology faculty and small businesses can be very beneficial to small businesses in improving their products as they do not have enough funds to spend on research and development. Such collaboration helps the faculty obtain necessary funds and P ge 315.1 2 equipment at the time of budget cuts and downsizing. The increase in the graduate engineering technology programs in the US is also requiring the faculty to engage in applied research in order to be a responsive teacher. Conducting applied research by engineering technology faculty, however, is not an easy task because of the applied nature of their program which needs time to set up the labs and conduct the hands-on component of the curriculum. The faculty at the institutions offering engineering technology programs are not expected to hold research credentials for tenure and are not expected to engage in research, and as a result, there is no incentive. INCORPORATION OF RESEARCH WORK INTO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT The department of electrical engineering technology is a part of the school of information systems and engineering technology and offers Bachelor s degree programs in electrical engineering technology, computer engineering technology and photonics. The curriculum for the B.S. program in electrical engineering technology includes theoretical issues and emphasizes the use of current, " state of the art" equipment, and emerging technologies to solve practical design and application problems. This necessitates the development of new courses in emerging technologies and state -oftheart equipment and laboratories which is critical because of the strong hands-on emphasis [3]. An interdisciplinary Master of Science program in Advanced Technology with emphasis on practical applications is also jointly offered by the departments of electrical , mechanical and industrial engineering technologies. To incorporate research into curriculum, the authors actively sought funding for research from both the private and government sectors in the last twelve years. The objective was to undertake applied research and relate it to the development of new courses, updating the existing labs and courses, and involving students in these efforts. Parts of the research project were used as topics for undergraduate student projects which were later incorporated as lab assignments. The results of applied research were also used to develop new courses and labs and updating the existing labs and courses. Listed below are the topics of applied research, the organizations funded the research, and the list of courses it was incorporated to. 1. Fiber amplifiers and lasers This research was conducted at the Rome Lab and was sponsored by the summer faculty research program of the Office of the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The research lasted for twelve weeks and was followed by an extension award of $20,000 to 25,000 to start research at the author s Institution. The area of research was in fiber amplifiers and lasers. Work involved the development of erbium doped fiber amplifiers and lasers which have revolutionized optical communications at 1550 nanometers wavelength. Work was extended to the development of praseodymium doped fiber amplifiers and lasers which are needed at the commonly used wavelength of 1300 nanometers in optical communications. Some work in the area of mode-locking of fiber doped lasers and use of fiber grating is currently in progress. The authors were able to avail the opportunity of summer faculty programs twice followed by two extension programs to initiate the research at SUNY Institute of Technology.