NAE Workshop on Engineering Societies’ Activities in Helping Align Industry and Academia

As part of its ongoing project on the Engagement of Engineering Societies in Undergraduate Engineering Education, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) held a workshop to explore how engineering societies can help better align engineering education with the needs of industry. The meeting was held on December 6, 2018 at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington DC.

One of the ongoing discussion in engineering education is the extent to which engineering schools are teaching the skills and knowledge that industry needs, now and in the future. While some schools have well established and well working relations with companies on research, it is unclear the extent to which those relationships extend to education. And it may not be the case for all engineering schools. Engineering societies are well positioned to play an intermediary role between academia and industry. The workshop examined societies’ programs and activities that help foster better relationships, provide an opportunity for the sharing of promising practices, and investigate possible collaborative actions. A summary Proceedings – In Brief is now available.

The workshop is one of a series meetings on topics prioritized at a national NAE workshop in 2017. The first three meetings considered the design of a joint societies’ student competition focused on the Grand Challenges for Engineering, the role of societies in defining “impact” on the engineering profession as a criterion for assessing faculty success, and societies’ activities in promoting diversity and inclusion.

For more information, please contact Ken Jarboe, Senior Program Officer, at KJarboe@nae.edu.