Session: 09-01-01: Curriculum Innovations, Pedagogy and Learning Methodologies

Paper Number: 70013

Start Time: Monday, 12:05 PM

70013 - Introducing Engineering Codes and Standards Throughout the Curriculum of a Newly Established Mechanical Engineering Program 

As part of its 2030 Vision 230 project, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers conducted a survey by asking more than 2500 industry engineering supervisors, early career mechanical engineers, and Mechanical Engineering Department Heads to assess the ME education in the U.S.  The study concluded that almost 50% of graduates lack an adequate knowledge of codes and standards and 46.9% of industry supervisors state a deficiency in the knowledge of national and international design codes and standards among Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) graduates.  Similarly, 48.3% of early career engineers expressed their own weakness in this area.

Recent literature revealed the scarcity of published papers on the subject matter, which talk about the importance of codes and standards but never mentioned the use of these in academia.   Moreover, mechanical engineering programs in the U.S. either do not introduce codes and standards in their courses or do not emphasize their importance in preparing students to industry.  To meet the urgent need for codes and standards and fill the gap of knowledge among early career engineers, our Mechanical Engineering program is exploring the possibility of introducing design codes and standards throughout its curriculum.  As an initial step, over 60 students (38 Juniors and 25 Seniors) were surveyed.  The purpose of the questionnaire was to assess undergraduate students’ knowledge, exposure, and experience with design codes and standards in school or industry through internship programs.  The survey covers a wide spectrum of questions on codes and standards starting from the basic material testing to the design of machine components, and static equipment. The survey was conducted over two consecutive semesters using the same batch of students (Juniors and Seniors).  Results from the initial survey conducted in Fall 2020 revealed that 2/3 of the students have never been exposed or introduced to the design codes and standards.  Meanwhile, the other 1/3 of students indicated that some of the standards have been introduced in one or two courses with minimal coverage.  Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify codes and standards included in textbooks used in our offered courses and determine the level of improvement of students’ exposure to codes and standards by comparing results from the first and second surveys.  Moreover, the results will assist the mechanical engineering program in identifying the proper courses to introduce design codes and standards throughout the curriculum.  The paper will also demonstrate how and where faculty and instructors incorporate information about design codes and standards into the existing curriculum or through new pedagogical models, activities, and assignments.

Presenting Author: A. C. Seibi Utah Valley University

Authors:

A. C. Seibi Utah Valley University
I. Jaafar Utah Valley University
S. Tolman Utah Valley University
A. Amin Utah Valley University