Category Archives: Universities

Indian Institute of Technology Thoughts

An interesting interview of an IIT graduate and CEO that really discusses how IIT graduates can help the Indian economy more than the title indicates – 5 things entrepreneurs must do to succeed:

First and foremost what is required is empathy and a genuine concern to improve the lot of the people. Next, there has to be a coordinated effort between the government and other agencies. Four focussed initiatives in each district around education, agriculture, industry and social equality could be identified and on an experimental basis ten districts could be identified and handed over to IIT-ians who have the zeal to bring about the transformation with a time bound agenda, with the commitment to support them through various agencies.

Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships

I have added a new page on our web site that includes links to online resources with advice on applying for and winning science and engineering scholarships and fellowships. That page also includes a list of the largest science and engineering scholarships and fellowships. Please share your comments and suggestions for additions for that page.

Designed Experiments

One-Factor-at-a-Time Versus Designed Experiments by Veronica Czitrom:

The advantages of designed experiments over [One Factor at a Time] OFAT experiments are illustrated using three real engineering OFAT experiments, and showing how in each case a designed experiment would have been better. This topic is important because many scientists and engineers continue to perform OFAT experiments.

I still remember, as a child, asking what my father was going to be teaching the company he was going to consult with for a few days. He said he was going to teach them about using designed factorial experiments. I said, but you explained that to me and I am just a kid? How can you be teaching adults that? Didn’t they learn it in school? The paper provides some examples showing why OFAT experimentation is not as effective as designed multi-factor experiments.

NSF Undergraduate STEM Scholarships

NSF Undergraduate Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM).

“This program makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented, financially needy students, enabling them to enter the workforce following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate level degree in science and engineering disciplines. Grantee institutions are responsible for selecting scholarship recipients, reporting demographic information about student scholars, and managing the S-STEM project at the institution.” Students apply directly to the school.

Related: July post on this program (applications are taken each semester) – More science and engineering fellowships and grants

NSF Engineering Education Program Grants

Grants awarded by NSF for engineering education programs include (next applications due Aug 2007):

Extraordinary Women Engineers (start date Oct 2006) – “to encourage more academically prepared high school girls to consider engineering as an attractive option for post-secondary education and subsequent careers in order to increase the number of women who make up the engineering workforce.”

Colleges of Engineering as Learning Organizations (Sep 2006) – “Based on the framework developed by Senge the PI will work with engineering colleges and departments to develop a rubric that will allow them to self-reflect, make governance decisions that benefit the organization, the faculty, and the students and continuously improve.”

Service-Learning Integrated throughout a College of Engineering (Sep 2005) – “Service-learning is the integration of academic subject matter with service to the community in credit-bearing courses, with key elements including reciprocity, reflection, coaching, community voice in projects.”

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) pays the fellow’s full tuition and required fees (not to include room and board). In addition, fellows receive a stipend for 12-month tenures. The stipend levels for each of the 12-month tenures are as follows:
Period First Year Second Year Third Year
Amount $30,500 $31,000 $31,500

From 2003 to 2006, 656 awards were granted out of 10,593 applications. Applicaitons must be submitted by January 8, 2007.

Awards provided to applicants who will pursue a doctoral degree in, or closely related to (see web site for full list):

* Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
* Chemical Engineering
* Computer and Computational Sciences
* Electrical Engineering
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mathematics
* Mechanical Engineering
* Oceanography
* Physics

Inquiry-Based Engineering Education

UTEP gets $500,000 for its students:

The University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded a $500,000 grant that could give its engineering students a boost before they enter the profession.

The three-year National Science Foundation grant, which UTEP’s Colleges of Engineering and Education applied for together, is to implement and evaluate an inquiry-based educational model in engineering classes, said Arunkumar Pennathur, associate professor of industrial engineering.

Rather than lecturing, professors are now conducting their classes by askingcounter-intuitive questions, the kind that make students stop and think, Pennathur explained.

Global Engineering Education Study

Global Engineering Education Study includes a great deal of useful information. Universities partnering in the study include: Technische UniversitÃ¤t Darmstadt, Germany; Georgia Institute of Technology, USA; MIT, USA; Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and University of Tokyo, Japan.

This unique collaboration will study the influence and importance of technological expertise and education on the competitiveness of nations, people, and companies. At the heart of this initiative is a comprehensive study designed to reflect a broad spectrum of topics dealing with all aspects of engineering and natural sciences.

Recommendations include:

Global competence needs to become a key qualification of engineering graduates
Transnational mobility for engineering students, researchers, and professionals needs to become a priority
Global engineering excellence depends critically on a mutual commitment to partnerships, especially those that link engineering education to professional practice
Research on engineering in a global context is urgently needed

Teaching Ideas

Learn . Create . Succeed is a blog by SolidWorks dedicated to assisting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) instructors in incorporating SolidWorks into their course curriculum. The posts include ties to algebra, geometry, physics, and robotics.

Suggested by Marie Planchard via the Curious Cat Post Suggestion form.

Nanotechnology Research

Brave nano world by Nate Birt:

At the federal level, the National Nanotechnology Initiative has requested more than $1 billion for nanotechnology research and development in 2007. The initiative is a network of 25 federal organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense, that fund nanotechnology research at their own labs and at universities around the country, including MU.

Former President Bill Clinton started the initiative in 2000, and it became a part of the federal budget in fiscal 2001. Back then, the federal government spent an estimated $464 million on nanotechnology