Transcript Presentation - Florida International University

National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Opportunities for UniversityIndustry- Government Collaboration
for Engineering Workforce:
My perspectives
Kamlesh (Kam) Lulla, Ph.D.;Ph.D.
Director, University Research, Collaboration and
Partnership Office, NASA Johnson Space Center
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Disclaimer
Views expressed in this presentation are those of the
author and do not reflect the policies of the US
Government or NASA. Any references to trade names,
commercial products or private firms or public agencies
in this presentation is for research and descriptive
purposes only and does not imply any endorsement by
the author or his employers or US Government. Please
contact the author prior to any use of this presentation.
Pre-approval for use of this presentation is required.
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Outline
•
Part I: Perspectives on Industry-University and
Government collaboration in Texas during the
NASA Shuttle retirement decision
•
Part II: Reflections on Engineering education and
workforce development
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Retirement of the Space Shuttle
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Engineering workforce in transition
• Engineers
as commodities
• Engineers with transferrable skills
• Engineers learning new skills
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Engineering workforce in transition
What role can universities, government and
industries play in transitions?
• NASA Shuttle retirement decision: Contractor
engineers displaced in Texas, Florida and Alabama
• Small numbers of engineers transitioned to Energy
sector, some to other general engineering firms.
• Unchartered territory for industry,
• government, and universities
•
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The Partnership Continuum: One model
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One View of the Future (Lulla 2011)
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The Engineer of 2020
•
Phase I: Visions of
Engineering in the
New Century
•
Phase II: Adapting
Engineering Education
to the New Century
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Engineering and the Future
Disciplinary Mind
Synthesizing Mind
Respectful Mind
Ethical Mind
Creating Mind
Source: Five Minds for the Future … Howard Gardner Harvard University
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Academies within the agencies
• Seven
years ago, NASA Johnson Space Center
created Engineering Academy to meet its needs for
retraining, “refreshen” its engineering workforce..
• What
can industry, government, and universities
do to meet these needs?
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International scene
State of International Aerospace Education:
• Emergence
of privately funded Engineering institutes
across many parts of the world (e.g. Eastern Europe,
India, Singapore)
• Space Agencies creating their own aerospace
engineering Academies for aerospace workforce
development (e.g. Indian Space Research
Organization has created the largest in-house
aerospace academy)
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Business case for Master’s degree
Source: Russell, J. S., B. Stouffer, and S. G. Walesh (2001). Business case for the master's degree:
The financial side of the equation. Pp. 49-58 in Proceedings of the Third National Education Congress,
Civil Engineering Education Issues, D. E. Hancher, ed. Reston, Virginia.
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Business case for Master’s degree
Engineering academy is pushing for advanced
degrees with BS as the first step and with accelerated
Master’s as required professional degree
• Engineering academy is pushing for engineers to be
well rounded, especially in communication, ethics and
global view and have international experience
• Hands on experience: the iterative process of
designing, building and testing - should be taught
from the earliest stages of the curriculum, including
the first year.
•
(Recommendations from Engineer 2020)
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Opportunities at my Center:
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Revamping JSC Coop and Intern programs to enable
interdisciplinary, international and unique opportunities:
Coop experience with JAXA, CSA, ESA, INPE etc.
•
Integrate JSC K-12 science and engineering education
with the UG engineering experiences
•
Expand role of NASA alumni/retirees in outreach to UG
engineering schools
•
Explore “on-loan” or sabbatical like approaches to bring
in “experts” to interact with JSC engineers and Coop
(ITAR rule/s etc may have to be revisited)
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The Partnership Continuum
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Summary
•
Partnership and collaboration models need to be
expanded to include “transition states” of Engineering
workforce
•
There is a need for university-industry- government
collaboration in creating “ecosystems” that enable lifelong learning.
Learning is not compulsory neither is survival!
W. Edward Deming
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ADDITIONAL CHARTS
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Attributes of the Successful Engineer of 2020
Possess strong analytical skills
• Exhibit practical ingenuity; possess creativity
• Good communication skills with multiple stakeholders
• Business and management skills; leadership abilities
• High ethical standards and a strong sense of
professionalism
• Dynamic, agile, resilient, flexible
• Lifelong learners
• Ability to frame problems, putting them in a sociotechnical and operational context
•
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What has changed in education?
Need for Integrated engineering education:
• Interdisciplinary- to include technical and system
engineering
• Business and ethical components
• International and global perspectives
• Green and environmentally sensitive
• Life long learning mindset
• Gen Y learning modes: internet, webcasts, twitter,
non-traditional learning settings both virtual and real
• (National Academy of Engineering)
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What are the challenges for JSC?
•
Can we attract, recruit and retain the best of
engineering students to JSC or NASA?
•
Are our programs/tools in place adequate to
accomplish the objective?
•
Are our programs flexible and adaptable to retain the
members of Gen Y in our workforce?
•
What changes do we need to implement?
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Opportunities at my Center:
•
Revamping JSC Coop and Intern programs to enable
interdisciplinary, international and unique opportunities:
Coop experience with JAXA, CSA, ESA, INPE etc.
•
Integrate JSC K-12 science and engineering education
with the UG engineering experiences
•
Expand role of NASA alumni/retirees in outreach to UG
engineering schools
•
Explore “on-loan” or sabbatical like approaches to bring
in “experts” to interact with JSC engineers and Coop
(ITAR rule/s etc may have to be revisited)
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The Engineer of 2020:
National Academy of Engineering
•
Phase I: Visions of
Engineering in the
New Century
•
Phase II: Adapting
Engineering Education
to the New Century
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What are our challenges?
•
Attrition rate in engineering education is
unacceptably high.
•
24/7 engineering and outsourcing
Value and productivity issues
• Innovation and entrepreneurism
•
Preparation and awareness of high school graduates
• Out of sync engineering curricula
• Replacing with one engineer for every 2 lost
•
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Attributes of the Successful Engineer of 2020
Some engineering curriculum reform experts call for
“Renaissance Engineers”…with very strong technical
foundation and a broader non-traditional skills set”
Dr Jim Jones,
Purdue University,
Associate Dean for Engineering
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Transforming Engineering Education
“For too long traditional engineering education has been
characterized by narrow, discipline-specific approaches and
methods, an inflexible curriculum focused exclusively on educating
engineers (as opposed to all students), an emphasis on individual
effort rather than team projects, and little appreciation for
technology’s societal context.
Engineering education has not generally emphasized communication
and leadership skills, often hampering engineers’ effectiveness in
applying solutions. Engineering is perceived by the larger community
to be specialized and inaccessible, and engineers are often seen as a
largely homogenous group, set apart from their classmates in the
humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Given these
perceptions, few women and minorities participate in engineering,
and non-engineering students are rarely drawn to engineering
courses.”
Princeton, 2005
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Demographics of
Engineering Students at U.S. Institutions
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The Challenge to U.S. Engineers
• Engineers
must develop the capacity of working in
global markets characterized by great cultural
diversity.
•
•
Much faster pace of innovation, shorter product cycles, lower
prices, and higher quality than ever before.
Shift from traditional problem solving and design skills to
more innovative solutions imbedded in an array of social,
environmental, cultural, and ethical issues.
• They
must achieve several times the value-added of
engineers in other parts of the world to sustain their
competitiveness relative to global sourcing.
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Recommendations
•
The engineering education establishment should
participate in a coordinated national effort to promote
public understanding of engineering and technology literacy
of the public.
•
Engineering schools and employers of engineers should
lend their energies to a
national effort to
improving math, science
and engineering education
at the K-12 level.
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The Challenge for K-12 Educators
The Quiet Crisis
•
Nurturing our human capacity for innovation requires a
configuration of elements - multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary
•
Students
•
•
•
•
Whet their curiosity
Spark their imaginations
Awaken their eagerness for science and math
Entire education system - K-12 and higher education
•
•
•
Reach out to these students, the underrepresented majority in science,
engineering and technology
Help them find their way in and help them stay in
Encourage them to pursue the preparatory course work for engineering or
science degrees
Mentor and show role models for nontraditional students
• Provide hands on science, math and engineering experiences
•
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Concluding Thoughts
We can not be complacent about U.S. pre-eminence in
science and technology in this rapidly changing
world…without a renewed effort to bolster the foundations
of competitiveness, we can expect to lose our privileged
position in global economy …
Norm Augustine
As a nation we are obliged to renew our commitments and
investments in education, research and innovation to ensure
that the American people continue to benefit from the rapid
developments of the global economy which is fueled in large
part by science and technology.
National Academy of Engineering
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The Challenge of Change
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The changing workforce and technology needs of a global
knowledge economy are changing engineering practice,
demanding far broader skills.
•
Importance of technological innovation to economic
competitiveness and national security is driving a new
priority for application-driven basic engineering
research.
•
Challenges such as out sourcing and off shoring, decline
of student interest in STEM careers, inadequate social
diversity, and immigration constraints are raising serious
questions about the adequacy of the current national
approach to engineering.
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The stakes are very high!!!
•
An extrapolation of current trends, such as the off shoring
of engineering jobs and services, inadequate investment in
long-term engineering research, inadequate innovation in
engineering education, declining interest on the part of
students in STEM careers, and immigration constraints
raises very serious concerns
•
Without concerted action, America faces the very real
prospect of losing its engineering competence in an era in
which technological innovation is the key to economic
competitiveness, national security and social well-being.
•
Bold and concerted actions are necessary to sustain and
enhance the profession of engineering in America–its
practice, research and education!
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Innovation and Globalization
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A radically new system for creating wealth has emerged
that depends upon the creation and application of new
knowledge and hence, upon educated people and their
ideas.
•
“Intellectual work and capital can be delivered from
anywhere–disaggregated, delivered, distributed, produced
and put back together again…” (Friedman)
•
“Some three billion people who were excluded by the preinternet economy have now walked out onto a level
playing field, from China, India, Russia and Eastern
Europe, regions with rich educational heritages.”
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Engineering Workforce Concerns
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Student interest in science and engineering careers is at a
low ebb–and likely to go much lower as the implications
of global sourcing become more apparent!
•
Cumbersome immigration policies in the wake of 9-11,
along with negative international reaction to U.S. foreign
policy, are threatening the pipeline of talented foreign
science and engineering students.
•
It is increasingly clear that a far bolder and more
effective strategy is necessary if we are to tap the talents
of all segments of our increasingly diverse society
(particularly women and underrepresented minorities).
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International Comparisons
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While absolute comparison production of U.S. engineers
(85,000/y) with China (350,000/y) and India (170,000/y), of
far more importance is the trend.
•
Similarly, Ph.D. comparisons of the U.S. (17,000/y) and
China (8,000/y) is misleading; China is doubling every
5 years.
•
Today the U.S. currently produces less than 8% of the
world’s engineers and this is dropping fast.
•
Clearly the U.S. cannot achieve engineering leadership
through the number of engineering graduates.
•
•
Focus on quality
New educational paradigms for a rapidly changing, global, knowledgedriven economy.
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Yet, same old…same old…
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Curriculum still stresses analytical skills to solve well
defined problems rather than engineering design,
innovation and systems integration
•
Continue to pretend that an undergraduate education is
sufficient, despite fact that curriculum has become bloated
and overloaded, pushing aside liberal education
•
Failed to take a more formal approach to lifelong learning
like other professions (medicine, law)
•
Need to broaden education to include topics such as
innovation, entrepreneurial skills, globalization and
knowledge integration
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And make it all exciting and attractive to young people!
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We need new paradigms…
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To respond to incredible pace of intellectual change (e.g.
from reductionism to complexity, analysis to synthesis,
disciplinary to multidisciplinary)
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To accommodate a far more holistic approach to
addressing social needs and priorities, linking economic,
environmental, legal and political considerations with
technological design and innovation
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To reflect in diversity, quality and rigor the
characteristics necessary to serve a 21st century world
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To infuse in our students a new spirit of adventure, in
which risk-taking and innovation are seen as an integral
part of engineering practice
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What Can We Do?
•
Actions needed not only by the federal government, but at
the state and local levels and in each American family
•
Need to avoid complacency by assuming the U.S. will
remain competitive and pre-eminent in science and
technology
•
World is changing and we need to take action to renew
our nation’s commitment in education, research and
innovation policies so our nation’s children have jobs
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