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Lafayette is set to host the Mid-Atlantic American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference April 16-17. A variety of workshops, presentations, and technical sessions will support this spring’s theme, “Engineering Education: Global Challenges, Local Solutions.”
“At a time when the importance of technology is visible in all aspects of our lives and the central issue in education is how to make it more interdisciplinary, Lafayette is uniquely positioned to host this conference as it offers a full range of programs in the humanities, social sciences, science, and engineering,” says organizing committee chair Javad Tavakoli, professor of chemical engineering. “We look forward to a successful conference during which all participants will share their experiences with each other.”
Alexander W. Masetti, vice president of continuous improvement at Air Products & Chemicals, Inc., will be the keynote speaker Friday, April 16. Renata S. Engel, ASEE president-elect and professor of engineering science and mechanics and engineering design at The Pennsylvania State University, will address the challenges and opportunities in engineering education at a time of rapid globalization of science and technology Saturday, April 17.
Lafayette faculty will lead four hands-on workshops highlighting the different engineering disciplines specially designed for high school and middle school teachers April 16. The sessions will be headed by J. Ronald Martin, professor of chemical engineering; John Greco, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Joshua Smith, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; and Steve Kurtz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
This is the first time workshops of this kind are being offered at the conference. Teachers may choose to attend two sessions, which will count toward professional development hours under ACT 48. The workshops and dinners featuring the keynote speakers are free thanks to support from Air Products, Lehigh Valley Chapter of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Lehigh Valley Engineering Council.
Leading engineering educators from colleges and universities throughout the East Coast will present concurrent sessions covering a variety of topics, including innovative experiences in local/global/community learning, teaching across disciplines, applications of technology in engineering education, innovations in first-year teaching, reinventing the laboratory experience, teaching project and design courses, integrating teaching and research, and evolving pedagogies in engineering education.
Other faculty assisting with the conference include Kristen Sanford-Bernhardt, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, Steven Nesbit, professor of mechanical engineering, and John Nestor, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, who round out the organizing committee; James Schaffer, professor of chemical engineering and director of institutional research, who will discuss the engineering studies program; and Alan Childs, professor of psychology and the founding director of the Center for the Integration of Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship, who helped organize a reception at the center. Nearly all members of the engineering faculty have been busy reviewing abstracts of papers submitted to the conference.