Engineering Education Outside the Classroom: Engagement in Professional Societies

Achille Messac, James N. Warnock, Masoud Rais-Rohani

James W. Bagley College of Engineering, Mississippi State University

Challenges for 21st Century Engineering Education

• Boeing’s list of “Desired Attributes of an Engineer”

• ABET Engineering Criteria 2000

• National Academy of Engineering “The Engineer of

2020”

Institutional Context

Pre-college traits of students

Environmental Factors

Coursework and Curricular

Patterns

Classroom Experience

Out-of-Class Experiences

Student Attributes

Adapted from Terenzini et al. (1994, 1995)

Departments in College of Engineering

Aerosp

ace Engineerin

g

Ag & Bio Engineerin

g

Chemical E

ngineering

Civil &

Environmental E

ngineering

Computer Scie

nce &

Engineering

Electrica

l & Computer E

ngineering

Industrial &

Syste

ms Engineerin

g

Mech

anical E

ngineering

203

372271

333 338 336

158

586

33

35

11

28 59 61

23

72

Undergraduate Students Graduate Students

# Students Joining Professional Societies

ABE AP ASE CEE ChE CSE ECE ISE ME0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

254

198 319251 224 331

173565

23

24

2424

1767 60

19

51

Undergraduate Students Graduate StudentsDepartment

Perc

enta

ge o

f Stu

dent

s w

ith

Mem

bers

hip

in a

Te

chni

cal S

ocie

ty

Increase in Student Members

ABE AP ASE CEE ChE CSE ECE ISE ME

32

3 3 36

93

115

2 2 26

67

2 2 3

Undergraduate Students Graduate Students

Department

Fold

Incr

ease

in th

e N

umbe

r of S

tude

nt

Mem

bers

for T

echn

ical

Soc

ietie

s

Student Learning Outcomes

Activities

• Training for student chapter officers

• Provide support for participation at national

meetings

• Design competitions

• Utilize resources for class assignments

Limitations

• Determining most appropriate technical

society

• Advertising initiative to students

• Meeting logistics

• Financing

Conclusions

• Significant increase in

student membership

• Potential improvement of

students’ professional skills

Acknowledgements

• Jason Keith, Interim Dean

• Jim Bagley

• BCoE Business Office

• BCoE Department Heads