Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit to Focus on...

Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit to Focus on... Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit to Focus on... Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit to Focus on the Digital Mechanical EngineerFor the past 30 years, the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Education (MEED) Leadership Summit has brought together mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology educators with representatives from industry, government and professional societies to focus on issues that will have an impact on the future of engineering education and discuss potential strategies to deal with them. This years summit, MEED 2019, will be held from March 20 to 23 at the Renaissance New Orleans Pere Marquette in New Orleans, LA.MEED 2019, which will address the theme The Digital Mechanical Engineer Engage, Explore, Empower, will be co-chaired for the first time by mechanical engineering department heads from historically black universities and colleges Nadir Yilm az of Howard University and H. Dwayne Jerro of Southern University. Members of the conferences organizing committee include Oscar Barton, chair of the ASME Committee on Engineering Education and mechanical engineering department head at George Mason University William Predebon, past chair of the Committee on Engineering Education and chair of the department of mechanical engineering and engineering mechanics at Michigan Technological University Aisha Lawrey, director of Engineering Education at ASME and Ashley Huderson, manager of Engineering Education at ASME.Following an ABET orientation session and an ASME/ABET pre-conference workshop on March 20 and 21, the Summit will tritt off the afternoon of March 21 with an opening luncheon and a keynote presentation featuring Pamela Norris, executive associate dean for research at the University of Virginia and chair of the ASEE Engineering Research Council. The first of the Summits plenary sessions, from 230 p.m. to 500 p.m., will then di scuss how industry and department heads and chairs can engage mechanical engineering departments to ensure that their students possess the aptitude and skills in computer programming, coding and artificial intelligence they will need to succeed in the profession. Panelists participating in the discussion, which will be moderated by Lee Redden CTO/Co-founder of Blue River Technology, will include a representative from the US Department of Defense (DoD) and Marcelino Gomes, executive manager of pipeline protection for Petrobras Transporte.A second plenary session, to take place on March 22 from 900 a.m. to 1100 a.m., will take a look at the current best practices and innovative approaches in the use of digital tools in mechanical engineering. During the session, speakers including Steven Goldsmith, mechanical engineering professor at Michigan Technological University, and Patrick A. Hillberg of Siemens Academic and Workforce Business Development will discuss the opportunities and chal lenges in their respective sectors. A question-and-answer discussion session will follow the presentations.That afternoon, a third plenary will take a look at the various digital tools with which mechanical engineers are now expected proficient and the effect they will continue to have on mechanical engineering education. Moderated by Marcio de Queiroz, professor and director of the iCORE Lab at Louisiana State University, the plenary panel will feature Fab Clayton, education engagement program manager at Autodesk Mario Rotea, mechanical engineering department head at the University of Texas-Dallas William Messner, professor of mechanical engineering at Tufts University and Darrell Robinette, faculty advisor for the SAE/GM AutoDrive Challenge kollektiv at Michigan Tech.The conference will also feature several half-hour briefings by speakers such as Iana Aranda, ASME director of programs, Engineering for Global Development Michael Johnson, associate professor and associate department head at Texas AM University Jenna Carpenter, dean of Campbell University and Joe Sussman, chief accreditation officer and chief information officer at ABET.MEED 2019 will conclude on March 23 with an Engineering Education Town Hall from 1000 a.m. to 1130 a.m., a conference wrap-up and closing session from 1130 a.m. to 1200 p.m., and the ASME Committee on Engineering Education Meeting from 1230 p.m. to 430 p.m.For more information on the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit, or to register, visit https//event.asme.org/MEED.

The 4th Industrial Revolution is Underway! Will a Robot Take Your Job

The 4th Industrial Revolution is Underway Will a Robot Take Your JobThe 4th Industrial Revolution is Underway Will a Robot Take Your JobThe 4th Industrial Revolution is underway. You may not have known it, but you may have observed the subsequent transformations. The advancements in genetics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics, 3D printing etc. you hear or read about or personally have experience with, are the outcomes of the 4th Industrial Revolution.Its impact on the global workforce is projected to result in 7.1 mio job losses over the period 2015-2020.The study conducted by the World Economic Forum, highlights that the technological revolution that is ongoing will lead to fundamental transformation in jobs, such as job displacement, widening skill gap, heightened labor productivity and job creation. When 5.1 million jobs get displaced, 2 million jobs will be created due to the change.While advancements in technology (AI, software, machinery, robots etc.) will increase the ef ficiency of employees within a workplace and produce cost-effective solutions for the company, they will render certain job roles obsolete. For example, most office and administrative jobs, such as bookkeepers and accountants are already being replaced by AI and software. However, new job types such as organizational development specialists will also be born out of the need to keep up with the change.The research shows that nearly 65% of the kids entering primary school today will end up working in jobs that dont yet exist, and the chances are that within the next 10 years, most jobs done exclusively by humans today, will be replaced by machines, robots, AI etc.This requires future-proofing oneself by developing certain skills that are exclusive to humans and cannot be replicated by technology. Negotiation and decision-making skills, critical thinking skills and improved emotional intelligence are some of these abilities that will be demanded by jobs in the future. Working on improv ing oneself thus is the fail-safe way to neutralize the threats caused by the 4th Industrial Revolution.Created by CreatelyShare Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments

Visibility through Philanthropy

Visibility through PhilanthropyVisibility through PhilanthropyExpand your network by raising your visibility within a charityWhen clients tell me they need to do a better job of networking, there are two things I want to knowHow they define networkingWhats stopping themAs it happens, how they define networking is often whats stopping them. That may sound strange, so let me explain.If your idea of networking is to find and attend a networking meeting, that probably doesnt sound very inspiring. And it isnt. The prospect of walking around in a roomful of strangers hoping to find someone who might be able to help isnt a possibility that excites me, either. Although there are some terrific groups that get together to help each other, all groups are not created equal. Despite the exceptions, Ive never been a big believer in this approach for one simple reason N etworking meetings tend to attract people who dont consider themselves well-connected.How helpful is that?While there are many way s to expand your network, one of the most powerful is to get involved with philanthropy. Its a great opportunity to help other people while you help yourself. To appreciate how philanthropy can be a better way to increase your network, lets first look at three of the primary goals of networkingVisibilityGetting connectedHelping others (networking as a two-way street)Sometimes you can achieve these goals at networking meetings, but the circumstances are less than ideal. Philanthropy can be a better way to achieve all three goals because the primary goal is helping an organization or people in need. You achieve your other goals seamlessly because the activity puts you in contact with other people who share similar interests.This strategy is even more effective if you find a way to create or get involved in a wide-scale project. For example, when I worked at Chicago advertising agency Leo Burnett, I was shocked by the volume of waste generated by graphic- arts studios. For example, onc e the ads were mounted and trimmed, large scraps of foam core and paper were regularly discarded. It also made me cringe to see art directors throw out giant sets of not-quite-new but perfectly usable markers. As a long-time volunteer in the Child Life Department at Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago, I had a feeling that much of what we were throwing out could be put to good use. So I organized an effort where the various studios began collecting materials. On an almost weekly basis, we shipped boxes of foam core and art supplies to the hospital.At first, the Child Life staff wasnt sure what to do with the foam core. But being quite resourceful, it wasnt long before they couldnt get enough of it. Our primary goal was to recycle what would have been waste and give the patients at Childrens access to great art supplies. None of us did it to build our networks or increase our visibility. But thats exactly what happened when we all started working together. I met countless people t hroughout the agency and hospital I would otherwise never have met.There are other ways to get involved. For example, an attorney I know who specializes in mergers and acquisitions joined the motherboard of a local community health center that caters to the uninsured. At first glance, that might not seem like an ideal place for him to expand his network. But consider this A s a board member and head of the finance committee, he now has contact with some of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies that actively support the center and donate product to the on-site pharmacy.As you look for opportunities to get involved, here are a few questions and tips to considerWhat people or organizations would value the expertise youve gained through work or personal interests? Philanthropic organizations, like their for-profit counterparts, have needs in every conceivable area including finance, marketing, public relations, event planning and fundraising. Of the organizations that could potent ially benefit from your involvement, which possibilities do you find most energizing? To paraphrase educator and speaker Marsha Sinetar Do what you love, and the contacts will follow.In which organizations are you most likely to find the people youd like to meet? If you have a particular goal from a networking perspective, there is nothing wrong with being strategic about your involvement. For example, if you know certain people are actively involved in a particular organization, its perfectly acceptable to get involved as well - as long as you are genuinely interested in the organization. If it looks like your primarily goal is to meet a particular person, this approach will backfire. And for good reason. For a philanthropic approach to work, the organization has to benefit in some way. It cant be all about you.Make it easy for people to help.If you are coordinating the efforts of others, be sure to make it as easy as possible for them to be involved. I almost learned this the ha rd way. When we were working on the art-supply donations, one studio was particularly active in collecting foam core. Unfortunately, the more quickly they collected it, the more quickly it piled up and created an eyesore. To keep the studio and staff interested and supportive, we had to arrange more frequent pick-ups from the hospital so we could get the scraps out of the studio.Have fun