For many students in engineering and engineering technology programs in the US, senior capstone design courses require students to form a team, define a problem, and find a feasible technical solution to address this problem. Students must integrate the knowledge and skills acquired during their studies at the college or university level. These…

A set of studies is reported describing the demographics, outcomes, and motivations of students who start in engineering and switch their major to engineering technology. There has been extensive research in engineering persistence, but little focus has been given to the "T" in STEM. Most research combines technology with other science…

A joint learning activity in process control is presented, in the context of a distance collaboration between engineering and technical-level students, in a similar fashion as current practices in the industry involving distance coordination and troubleshooting. The necessary infrastructure and the setup used are first detailed, followed by a…

Objectives of a project-oriented mechanical engineering course, Engineering Design, were achieved through a design project, where students designed, built and demonstrated an extreme version of a basic Theo Jansen device. Through this project, junior students in the University of Louisiana fully developed the capability of applying mathematic and…

Ten years ago, Richard Blais, now vice president of Project Lead The Way, Inc. (PLTW), packed his suitcase in an attempt to convince schools to adopt a five course program that could change the vision and purpose of many technology programs in schools. PLTW is now a national organization, located in 1,800 schools in 46 states and England,…

The recruitment process of the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET) program at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) was evaluated. Surveys were conducted to obtain data. Subjects were 163 NJIT students and 293 employment recruiters who conducted campus interviews. Findings indicate that campus recruiters, a majority of whom…

An "Introduction to Bionics" course is described, focusing on objectives, the case study method used in the course, a sample case involving the design of a self-locking spine positioner for a catfish, course coverage, idea-generating techniques, and course benefits. (JDD)

Holly Grimm, a Navajo student at Stanford University, creates a balance in her studies and her life by majoring in both electrical engineering and studio art. She discusses the cultural influences on her career choice and the connections between the humanistic side of art and the technology of engineering. (LP)

Students from science, engineering, and technology programs should be able to work together as members of project teams to find solutions to technical problems. The exercise in this paper describes the methods actually used by a project team from a Biomedical Instrumentation Corporation in which scientists, technicians, and engineers from various…