Silicon Prairie Initiative on Robotics in Information Technology

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Silicon Prairie Initiative on Robotics in
Information Technology

• Engineering
• Is Fun!!!

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The word engineer has its roots in the Latin word
ingeniator, which means ingenious, to devise in
the sense of construct, or craftsmanship.
Several other words are related to ingeniator,
including ingenuity.
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Engineering Notebook

• A significant fraction of engineering time is
  used just writing things down in the book.
• If it isnt documented, it didnt happen.

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Engineers and Scientists

• Engineering Design Process
• Identify the problem or design objective
• Define goals and identify constraints
• Research and gather information
• Create potential solutions
• Analyze the viability of the solutions
• Choose the most appropriate solution
• Implement the solution
• Test and evaluate the design
• Repeat ALL steps as necessary

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What Do Engineers Do?

• Engineers maintain and improve our quality of
  life.

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Convergent (left brain) and Divergent (right
brain) Thinking
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Ethics and Design

• Ethics problems are like design problems
• Open-ended, non-formulaic
• No unique, correct answer
• Both apply a large body of knowledge to the
  solution of the problem.
• Both involve the use of analytical skills.
• Both use heuristics for the search.

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21st Century Challenges

• International Competitiveness
• Rebuilding the Infrastructure
• Air and Water Pollution
• Energy

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-ilities

• Concurrent engineering demands consideration of
  the complete life cycle of the product, process,
  or project.
• Design for
• Manufacturability
• Affordability
• Reliability
• Sustainability
• Quality

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Electronics
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
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To engineer is human. To be human is to engineer.
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Silicon Prairie Initiative on Robotics in
Information Technology

• Engineering
• Is Cool!

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1970-2003 Degrees
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Engineering Degrees
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Women Engineers
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Messages for Students

• An engineering education is valuable as the basis
  for a variety of careers.
• Engineering offers challenges, excitement,
  opportunities, and satisfaction.
• Engineering is worthwhile, challenging, fun, and
  within reach.
• An engineering career provides flexibility that
  allows for family life choices and helping
  people.
• Its not as complicated as you think. Anyone can
  understand the principles of engineering.
• Engineering is a collection of diverse fields
  that need people with diverse talents,
  experiences, creativity, and entrepreneurial
  spirit.
• Math (and science and technology) literacy will
  open doors in your future.
• Math is the alphabet of science and engineering.
• The excitement of engineering is that engineers
  create something that has not been for the good
  of humanity.
• Engineering includes a variety of fields of study
  and occupations.
• Math is challenging. Competition is not limited
  to sports.
• Engineers are not what people expect.
• Engineering is a springboard to many career
  opportunities.

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Messages for Parents, Teachers, and Guidance
Counselors

• Students must take the tough courses if they want
  to enter a college of engineering.
• Engineering features low unemployment.
• Engineers are creative and human.
• If you like math, youll love engineering.
• If you like solving problems, wait till you hear
  what engineers can do.
• Engineering offers a lifetime of interesting work.

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Messages for the Engineering Community

• Engineering is a core competency necessary to
  solve the complex technical and environmental
  challenges facing our customers and stakeholders.
• Engineering is a lions profession.
• Engineering provides innovative solutions to
  societal problems.
• Engineers make use of both old and new knowledge
  to solve practical problems.
• Engineering plays an influential role in the
  burgeoning fields of bioethics, national
  security, and others.
• Engineering is a profession for leaders.

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Messages for Policy Makers and Opinion Leaders

• Engineers are responsible for the high standard
  of living in the United States.
• Engineering builds societies. Engineering
  advances economies.
• Engineering is integral to societys progress and
  a countrys ability to produce wealth.
• The United States cant expect to continue to
  solve its problems by importing technical talent
  from developing countries.
• Engineers are technology-literate citizens.
• Global competitiveness demands that many of the
  best and brightest students enroll in
  engineering.
• If engineering enrollments continue to decline,
  our nation will face a severe competitive and
  economic crisis.

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Both available from the National Academies Press
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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• By 2020, we aspire to a public that will
  understand and appreciate the profound impact of
  the engineering profession on sociocultural
  systems, the full spectrum of career
  opportunities accessible through an engineering
  education, and the value of an engineering
  education to engineers working successfully in
  nonengineering jobs.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• We aspire to engineers in 2020 who will remain
  well grounded in the basics of mathematics and
  science, and who will expand their vision of
  design through a solid grounding in the
  humanities, social sciences, and economics.
  Emphasis on the creative process will allow more
  effective leadership in the development and
  application of next-generation technologies to
  problems of the future.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• We aspire to an engineering profession that will
  rapidly embrace the potentialities offered by
  creativity, invention, and cross-disciplinary
  fertilization to create and accommodate new
  fields of endeavor, including those that require
  openness to interdisciplinary efforts with
  nonengineering disciplines such as science,
  social science, and business.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• By 2020 we aspire to engineers who will assume
  leadership positions from which they can serve as
  positive influences in the making of public
  policy and in the administration of government
  and industry.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• We aspire to an engineering profession that will
  effectively recruit, nurture, and welcome
  underrepresented groups to its ranks.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• It is our aspiration that engineers will continue
  to be leaders in the movement toward use of wise,
  informed, and economical sustainable development.
  This should begin in our educational institutions
  and be founded in the basic tenets of the
  engineering profession and its actions.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• We aspire to a future where engineers are
  prepared to adapt to changes in global forces and
  trends and to ethically assist the world in
  creating a balance in the standard of living for
  developing and developed countries alike.

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NAE Aspirations for 2020

• Our aspiration is to shape the engineering
  curriculum for 2020 so as to be responsive to the
  disparate learning styles of different student
  populations and attractive for all those seeking
  a full and well-rounded education that prepares a
  person for a creative and productive life and
  positions of leadership.

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Attributes of the 21st Century Engineer

• Strong analytical skills
• Practical ingenuity
• Creativity
• Communication skills
• Business and management skills
• leadership skills
• High ethical standards and a strong sense of
  professionalism
• Dynamism, agility, resilience, and flexibility
• Lifelong learner