With respect to the seven learning outcomes, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering students graduating from the AME program and AME alumni are very satisfied with the education that they receive. They indicate that they have been taught best in the areas of applying math/physics and solving engineering problems. They are well prepared in the area of solving engineering problems with state-of-the-art resources. The full-year capstone design experience and machine shop training provides our students experience designing and building processes and systems. These projects, often industry sponsored, provide real engineering experiences which are multidisciplinary in some instances. They are properly trained to plan experiments, analyze data, and interpret results. They feel confident in their communication skills (oral and written) because of the numerous required presentations and written reports throughout the curriculum. They all feel that they have adequate exposure to the importance of professional, ethical, and social responsibilities as well as life-long learning. All the feedback from our other assessment tools are in general agreement with those obtained from the graduating senior and alumni. There were two exceptions: feedback from industry (Performance Assessment Survey) suggests that industry would like to see improvement in AME alumni performance in the areas of math/probability/statistics and communication skills.

In addition, our assessment tools provide us with feedback concerning: academic standards, student advising, faculty, staff, teaching assistants, teaching laboratories (physical and computer), and design experience. Some 71-89% of the graduating Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering seniors rate the quality of their experience with Design, Physical Labs, Computer Labs, Faculty, Office Staff, and Machine Shop Staff as “good” or “excellent.” They report less satisfaction with TAs and Advising. These areas therefore warrant attention. The alumni (Alumni Survey; College of Engineering survey) agree with graduating seniors in most respects. The alumni feel that the AME department has very high academic standards and they agree with the graduating seniors that faculty and staff rate very high. They also agree with seniors in that advising and TAs are rated somewhat lower than other areas. The alumni (Alumni Survey) also specified that they wanted more hands-on and “meaningful” experiences in the physical and computer labs. The alumni report that the AME program provided them with good opportunities for participating in extracurricular activities, but they would welcome more opportunities to participate in research, independent studies, and internships. They also suggest business course(s) in the curriculum.

Improvements

Student Advising – In response to the Academic Program Review and student surveys, a new administrative structure has been defined in AME that includes the appointment of an Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Studies and an advising-trained Aerospace Engineering PhD student. This has been initiated to emphasize the importance of undergraduate studies in general and on student advising in particular. This also represents an effort to improve the quality of student advising by teaming a faculty member who is an award-winning teacher with a PhD student advisor who “bridges the gap” between students and the faculty. Anecdotal feedback from a spectrum of current students suggests that this change is well received.

Teaching Assistants – A new administrative structure has been defined that includes the appointment of an Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies and Research. This appointment is in response to the Academic Program Review assessment feedback that recommended appointment of associate heads for the undergraduate and graduate programs—with significant responsibilities for both. As a result, more attention has been given to the selection of teaching assistants (TAs), their assignment to specific courses based on their skills, and the review of their evaluations. All international students who want to be TAs must pass a University of Arizona language competency test, and faculty supervisors evaluate their respective TAs each semester. These evaluations are reviewed by the Associate Department Head for Graduate Studies and Research and the Department Head. TAs are re-appointed or not on the basis of the quality of their evaluations. Since the ratings of TAs by the senior exit survey and alumni survey suggest that improvement can be made, there are evidently shortcomings identified by the students that are not being adequately captured by the faculty evaluations and other mechanisms in place. The current assessment process will be improved by implementing a student survey of the TAs in each course to which a TA has been assigned. The TA surveys will be designed to identify what the problems are and solicit suggestions regarding how to address the problems.

Physical Laboratory – The Alumni Survey also specified that the alumni want more hands-on and “meaningful” experiences in the physical and computer labs. In general the computer and physical lab experiences are designed to be “meaningful” in the sense that they are created by faculty with some combination of industry experience, industry contacts, and active research programs. Two years ago, in response to this input and that from industry, the AME computer infrastructure (Computer Teaching Center and AME Server Room) was improved using ~$100,000 of salary support associated with open faculty lines to purchase state-of-the-art computers and software. The AME Department also invested approximately $25,000 of discretionary funds to support the development of “hands-on” laboratory exercises to demonstrate DC motor control.

Twenty-four personal computers with micro-control programmers, breadboards, and micromechanical kits were purchased to provide 24 experimental workstations. Further opportunities to inject funding into the physical laboratories have not arisen.

Professor Enikov (with Professor Cuello) recently received a $100,000 grant from the Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) Program, the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC), and the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) at the National Science Foundation, for work under a Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NUE) Award to develop a set of undergraduate laboratory experiments that are focused on the nano-scale surface science of biosensors. The proposed laboratory development is part of a multi-departmental master plan for the creation of a college-wide undergraduate curriculum on micro- and nano-technologies addressing the needs not only of undergraduate engineering students but also of students from other sciences, such as biosciences, optics, and physics. It is being designed with the mission of inspiring a broad spectrum of students to pursue scientific careers in the area of nanotechnology.

Business Courses – The Arizona Board of Regents approved a B.S. Engineering Management degree program in March 2002 at the University of Arizona that combines management courses and engineering classes to prepare graduates for positions that require broader capabilities than those provided by a business or an engineering degree alone. The Engineering Management Program at UA can also be combined with traditional engineering programs and lead to a double major with an additional 30 credits of work, essentially the 30 credits of managerial experience coursework. Alternatively, the 18 credits of technical electives can be used to obtain a formal minor, designated on the degree, in one of the traditional engineering fields.

Research, Independent Study, and Internship – These are actively promoted by the undergraduate student advising team. This is done during orientation meetings, during meetings between advisors and individual students, as well as during meetings between faculty advisors of student activities (such as SAE) and the member students. Formal courses (AME 193, AME 293, AME 393, AME 493) are available for all four years of the curriculum for students to enroll to receive academic credit for Internships with industry.

Communication and Mathematics – While there is some indication from industry that stronger communication and Math/Probability/Statistics skills would be welcomed, it is not clear at this time the exact nature of these issues. These matters need to be discussed with the AME Advisory Board and future surveys of industry need to be refined to identify any specific shortcomings. It is also important to gather a larger data set. The sample size from industry needs to be enlarged. With a clear understanding of the problem, a proper remedy will be implemented.