Vision 2030 --

Creating the Future

of
Mechanical Engineering
Education
Phase 1 Report
December 15, 2010
ASME Center for Education Task Force
Bob Warrington, Chair
Allan Kirkpatrick, Scott Danielson, Editors

Scientists discover the world that exists, engineers create the world that never was
--Theodore von Karman

ExecutiveSummary
The role and scope of the mechanical engineering profession has been transforming. Both what
mechanical engineers do and how they do it are changing owing to the expansion of the disciplines
boundaries, increased need to attend to global issues, increased professional and diversity expectations,
and rapid technological innovation. These important factors impact the mechanical engineering
profession and serve as motivators for significant change within mechanical engineering education.
The dominant engineering organizations in 2030 will be those that are successful at working
collaboratively and fostering global partnerships. The 21st century business world will be defined by
increased productivity due to the integration of new methods of communication and collaboration.
Successful mechanical engineers in these organizations will be individuals who, in addition to technical
knowledge, also have depth in communication, management, global team collaboration, creativity, and
problem-solving skills. In addition to being focused on collaborative working environments and virtual
design teams, mechanical engineering practitioners will need to better understand the global marketplace
in terms of economics, user needs, values and culture. The missing skill most cited in our surveys of
industry is practical experience, and new ME applications is cited as a missing curricular component by
mechanical engineering educators. In this report, the challenges of sustainable engineering, energy, and
human health are areas that the Vision 2030 task force has identified where mechanical engineers need
to develop innovative and sustainable solutions.
In the report, we also outline curricular structures to strengthen two aspects of the undergraduate
mechanical engineering curriculum -- professional experience and flexibility. To strengthen the
professional experience component of the students skill set, we recommend that the ME curriculum
contain a design/build spine in which there would be a design course in each of the freshmen,
sophomore, and junior years, and a year long senior capstone design course. Professional skills such as
problem solving, teamwork, leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, and project management would be
central features of the design spine.
To provide more curricular flexibility to incorporate new applications and emerging technologies,
departments should designate a set of classes as their mechanical engineering core, which all students
would be required to complete. This core would consist of the first course in the fundamental ME
discipline areas. Once a student completed their core set of classes, they would choose a concentration
area, and then complete additional courses in that concentration area. The specialty concentration areas
would to provide exposure to the emerging areas (bioengineering, nanoscience, etc ) of mechanical
engineering.

1.Introduction
1.1MissionandObjectives
The mission of the Vision 2030 project is to help the mechanical engineering education
constituency understand the depth and breadth of the challenges facing engineering educators. There
are two primary objectives. The first objective is to help define the knowledge and skills that mechanical
engineering or mechanical engineering technology graduates should have to be globally competitive in
the 21st century. The second objective is to provide recommendations on the features of the mechanical
engineering education curricula that would help provide graduates with the necessary expertise for
successful professional practice.

1.2TheCaseforChange
The role and scope of the mechanical engineering profession is transforming rapidly. Both what
mechanical engineers do and how they do it are changing owing to the expansion of the disciplines
boundaries, increased need to attend to global issues, increased professional and diversity expectations,
and rapid technological innovation. These important factors impact the mechanical engineering
profession and serve as motivators for significant change within mechanical engineering education.
Blurring and widening of disciplinary boundaries
The earliest engineering disciplines, civil, mechanical, and electrical, gave rise to engineering
specialties and application-based disciplines such as aeronautics, chemical, biomedical, environmental,
industrial, and nuclear engineering. A classic definition of mechanical engineering is that it embodies the
generation and use of thermal energy and power, and the design and use of tools and machines to
produce products. In the past, mechanical engineering problems were defined as those dealing with
energy and mechanisms, i.e., bending, breaking, heating, cooling, and moving. Today, the range of
applications of the mechanical engineering discipline has expanded greatly to include biological and
information-based systems, advanced materials and micro/nano-devices, and many others.
Currently, the types of problems and products that mechanical engineers work on are not easy to
categorize, and they often include elements of other engineering disciplines and the basic sciences. Many
contemporary engineering problems are considered to be multi-disciplinary in nature, involving more
than classic mechanical engineering expertise and traditional knowledge domains.
The blurring of discipline boundaries within engineering practice has been faced by industrial
organizations for the past several decades. Industrial organizations have confronted the issues of
whether engineering staffs should be made up of a group of engineering specialists or it their engineering
staff should be an assembly of generalists whose combined talents cover all the required engineering
specialties? In a similar fashion, mechanical engineering education is facing the question of whether it
should aim to continue to educate technical specialists or expand to also educate technical generalists
that have additional, non-mechanical based skill sets. It is clear that understanding the social, political,
and environmental considerations of an engineering problem will become even more important to
engineers and mechanical engineering education.
Increased need to attend to global issues such as environment, energy, and health
With the advent of organizations such as Engineers without Borders, among others, and
formulation of the National Academy of Sciences Grand Challenges facing the world, there are
opportunities for mechanical engineering students to participate in activities focused on improving human
health and alleviating poverty in the developing world. Many students find such activities attractive and
very rewarding; as they provide a venue to apply their mechanical engineering skills to improve the
quality of life of people in less fortunate circumstances. Mechanical engineering education curricula at
most schools do not explicitly include these sorts of service components.
Increased professional and diversity expectations
Corporations have the ability to source their engineering expertise worldwide. If the mechanical
engineering profession in a given country, for example, the United States, is to remain viable, it will

depend on the ability of U. S. based mechanical engineers to provide continued value and expertise to
industry and government. Engineering expertise will be required at a higher intellectual level than
associated with rote engineering and incorporate non-technical skills and expertise. For example,
expertise related to innovation, communication, creativity, and leadership will be required to a much
larger degree in accelerated product development processes. These topics are typically not a significant
part of the mechanical engineering curriculum.
The fraction of women and minorities in the mechanical engineering profession has remained
very small and essentially constant (at about 15%) over the last thirty years. This is in spite of significant
efforts by government, industry, and academia to increase the attractiveness of the mechanical
engineering profession to women. During this time, the medical and legal professions have dramatically
increased the fraction of women within them to about 50%, or even greater. The current mechanical
engineering educational process is simply not attracting and retaining enough women and minorities.

1.3RecentChangesinMechanicalEngineeringPractice
There has been a shift of engineering employment from large companies to small and mediumsized companies, with a growing emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation. Mechanical engineers
use the principles of energy, materials, and mechanics to design and manufacture systems, machines,
and devices of all types. With this foundation, mechanical engineers are well suited to move into an
expanded scope of duties beyond traditional roles, as being demanded by changing business models and
the rapid expansion of technology, communication, and worldwide engineering talent.
The dominant organizations in 2030 will be those that are successful at working collaboratively
and fostering global partnerships. The 21st century business world will be defined by increased
productivity due to the integration of new methods of communication and collaboration. Successful
mechanical engineers in industry will be individuals who, in addition to technical knowledge, also have
depth in communication, management, global team collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
In addition to being focused on collaborative working environments and virtual design teams, mechanical
engineering practitioners will need to better understand the global marketplace in terms of economics,
user needs, values and culture.
By 2030, advances in computer-aided design, materials, robotics, nanotechnology and
biotechnology will decentralize the process of designing and creating new devices. Consumers will be
demanding better products and services: including higher quality and the potential for mass
customization, and personalization. Mechanical engineering practitioners will fit well into leadership roles
where engineers have more latitude to design and build their devices locally using indigenous materials
and labor creating a renaissance for engineering entrepreneurs.
In the past, large firms tended to organize their engineering staff into very narrow technical
disciplines. The engineers were grouped in departments, sections, etc., with each having a very
specialized role within the engineering endeavor. Traditionally, mechanical engineers fit very well into
many of these specialized roles. On the other hand, smaller firms, with an equivalently small engineering
staff, tended to hire new mechanical engineering graduates and placed them in positions requiring a
broad skill set. These individuals were asked to perform job functions over a wide range of technical
areas. Recently, larger firms have been moving towards an engineering structure more typical of smaller
companies, where individual engineers are being expected to take on a broader range of tasks. These
engineers are expected to be more of a generalistor as some describe the situation, they become
systems engineers.

1.4RecentRelatedPublications
The National Academy of Engineerings The Engineer of 2020 (2004) envisions the future and
attempts to predict the role engineers will play in the future. The guiding principles of The Engineer of
2020 are that the pace of technology innovation will continue to be very rapid, the world will increasingly
be globally connected, the social and business groups involved with technology innovation will be
increasingly diverse and multidisciplinary, and that social, cultural, political forces will continue to shape
technical innovation. The (NAE) report Educating the Engineer of 2020 (2005) continues the themes
presented in The Engineer of 2020 . It notes the increasing complexity and scope of engineering systems
in energy, environment, food, product development, and communications. It suggests an earlier and
stronger introduction to engineering practice within undergraduate programs, with the students

experiencing the iterative process of designing, analysis, building, and testing.

The ASME 2028 Global Summit (2008) identified a number of critical uncertainties that global
societies face. Critical challenges facing the engineering profession include increasing public awareness
with respect to new technologies, enabling lifelong learning, taking leadership roles, enabling informed
public decisions, taking a lead in multidisciplinary and systems engineering, and developing partnerships
and collaborations between the many organizations involved in addressing complex, society-wide
problems. Reflecting global issues such as environment and health, the vision of the ASME 2028 Global
Summit was:
Mechanical Engineering will develop engineering solutions that foster a cleaner, healthier, safer
and sustainable world.
The ASME 2028 Global Summits goals for engineering practice were to: develop new technologies
to meet grand challenges in energy, environment, food, housing, water, transportation, safety, and health;
create global, sustainable engineering solutions to meet the basic needs of all people; foster global
partnership and locally appropriate development; and connect practitioners with the joy of discovery,
creation and application of engineering solutions to improve human life.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored 5XME workshops in 2007 and in 2009 to
explore necessary transformative change in mechanical engineering education and research in the USA.
With an interest in implementation, the 2009 5XME workshop formulated a number of mechanical
engineering curricular concepts:
a.) A professional (or design) spine offering engineering reasoning, engineering
synthesis
and other professional skills during all four years is needed.
b.) The fundamental topics central to an ME curricula are mechanics, thermal sciences, materials,
design and manufacturing, and systems and controls. A first course in these topics should be
required, with further study as an elective.
c.) The curricula should be sufficiently flexible to prepare graduates for a wide variety of careers.
A recent book from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching titled, Educating
Engineers (Shepard et al., 2009) raises concerns about students preparation for engineering practice
and the under-representation of women and minorities. They found an emphasis on the acquisition of
technical knowledge, distantly followed by preparation for professional practice. The authors argue for a
networked components educational model where components of engineering science, laboratory work,
and design activities interact with one another in an approximation of professional practice.
Crawley et al. (2007) have led a US/European curricular reform effort involving about 20
universities, documented in the book, Rethinking Engineering Education: The CDIO Approach. This
initiative emphasizes education of students who are able to Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate
complex, value added engineering products in a modern team based environment. Downey (2005)
recommends development of alternative pathways to an engineering degree. For example, engineering
science, engineering design, engineering and management, or engineering and policy could all form
building blocks for a less prescribed engineering educational path since they dont necessarily bear the
burden of including large blocks of traditional disciplinary content.

2.GlobalChallengesforMechanicalEngineersinthe21stCentury
The Vision 2030 task force used the ASME Global Summit and NAE Grand Challenges as a
starting point to further define the areas where mechanical engineers can provide leadership in the
development of innovative and sustainable solutions to these challenges. The areas are broadly
organized into the categories of sustainable engineering, energy, and human health.

2.1SustainableEngineering
The Mechanical Engineering profession is critical to solving the worlds environmental challenges
that exist during the life cycle of engineered products, structures and services, starting from resource
extraction, to processing, design and product development, operations, transportation systems and finally

to the processes and mechanisms for reuse, recycling and disposal. Mechanical Engineers have the
opportunity to be at the forefront of sustainable development and sustainable product development.
Mechanical engineers will be challenged to develop new sustainable technologies and techniques that
support economic growth in a way that is appropriate in a regional context. Sustainable urban
environments can be achieved through improved design and development of advanced materials and
techniques to improve transportation, energy, water, and waste systems. For example, there is a serious
lack of clean water on earth that, in todays world, contributes to loss of human lives and serious
diseases. Mechanical engineers could contribute to the design of innovative desalination, pumping, and
distribution systems.

2.2Energy
Growing imperatives for increased usage of renewable energy, and continuing dependence on
traditional energy sources require the development of clean, economical, and sustainable means of
energy conversion, storage and distribution. Mechanical engineers are key to the implementation and
design of renewable energy systems, such as wind, solar photovoltaic, and solar thermal systems. For
example, solar thermal systems require mechanical engineers to understand the principles of reflectors
and collectors as well as understand how to choose optimal working fluids with appropriate phase
changes. Generating nuclear power from fission is already a viable solution, but given the lack of new
power plants being built, much of the expertise resides in an aging workforce that is about ready to retire.
Methods to reduce or sequester carbon are needed at the point of extraction and can also be
embedded throughout energy conversion and use processes. Since transportation systems represent
about a third of the US energy use, new and efficient energy conversion technologies need to be
developed. Mechanical engineering advances in fuels, combustion, and related thermal sciences will
provide the fundamental basis for progress in this area. The majority of carbon emissions are associated
with generating and converting energy from fossil fuels. We must also create more efficient processes to
reduce the damage of fossil fuel combustion that contributes to smog and acid rain through the release of
nitric oxides.

2.3HumanHealthandWellBeing
Advances in bio-related technologies have already extended human life and increased the quality
of life for all ages. Mechanical engineers can take the lead in the development of innovative new
prosthetics, assistive devices and diagnostic technologies. Advances in these technologies can lead to
more general advances in human-machine interaction and mind-body prosthetics. Another mechanical
engineering challenge is to increase the reliability and reduce the costs of these technologies, perhaps
through the use of emerging neural science, MEMS and nano-mechanical technologies.
Recent research has highlighted individual differences in the susceptibility to disease and
response to medicines. The mechanical engineering challenge is to develop better tools and devices that
can assess a patients genetic profile and then provide doctors with a personalized medicine framework
to apply rapid and appropriate diagnoses and interventions. A large portion of the worlds population lives
in areas that are at high risk for infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue hemorrhagic fever.
Mechanical engineers can lead in the development of innovative produces and processes to provide early
detection and reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

3.CurrentAssessmentofMechanicalEngineeringEducation
3.1Introduction
In addition to workshops, a number of surveys and focused input from our constituents was
sought, including industry, government agencies, ME and MET Department Heads, and engineering
faculty, These inputs helped further document the perceived strengths and weaknesses in the various
mechanical engineering education areas and the current needs in engineering practice.

3.2IndustrySurvey
A survey was designed by ASME staff to assess the strengths and weaknesses of mechanical
engineering graduates from the perspective of industrial managers and engineers. The form was web
based, with questions about respondents industrial experience, educational background, hiring and
supervisory responsibility, and asked open ended questions about recent hires in their companies.
Responses were received from 381 engineers and managers. The size of the companies they
represented ranged uniformly over five categories from small (1-230 employees) to very large (greater
than 46800 employees). The range of industrial experience of responders was from about 1 year to over
30 years. The highest educational degree of the responders was: 44% BS in engineering, 27% MS in
engineering, 13% PhD in engineering, and 13% other.
The analysis of the responses was performed both by computer and by committee. The open
ended responses were first organized by a text analysis program which looked for common phrases in
the responses. The subset of the Vision 2030 committee then created 14 categories that best organized
the common phrases in the responses. The strength and weakness responses were then sorted into the
various categories, and the percentages based on the number of responses tabulated. If a respondent
listed multiple strengths or weaknesses, they were sorted appropriately into multiple response categories.
Since the same categories were listed in the strengths and weaknesses, there can be overlap depending
on the distribution of the responses, for example, interpersonal skills was listed as a strength by 19% of
the responses, and as a weakness by 10%, giving a net strength of 9%.
Q1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of recent BS mechanical engineering hires ?
As presented in the table below, the industry responses indicated that the top four strengths of
the BS graduates were information processing, technical fundamentals, computer modeling and analysis,
and interpersonal/teamwork skills. The greatest three weaknesses were in the areas of practical
experience how devices are made and work, communication, and problem solving/critical thinking.
These were the dominant response categories, with all other responses below the 5% level. Interestingly,
new applications and leadership areas were not mentioned as a strength or weakness by the industrial
respondents.
Sample comments regarding strengths are as follows:
Software knowledge they pick up software interfaces very quickly.
-Well versed in fundamentals of engineering sciences.
Representative comments regarding weaknesses were:
Afraid to get hands dirty and learn how products are made and assembled, Have never
disassembled and reassembled anything substantial
Lack of understanding of manufacturing processes,
Not enough on finishing the project to the satisfaction of the sponsor.
Lack of ability to transfer engineering knowledge to practical problem solving, Knowing which
problem to solve,
Inability to get to the root of even basic problems,
Inability to define a problem and gain consensus from their customer,
Critical evaluation of FEA analysis results,
Understanding the principles behind various software packages.

Table 3 -1 Strengths and Weaknesses of recent BS ME Hires

Category
Information processing electronic communication
Technical fundamentals traditional ME disciplines
Interpersonal/teamwork
Computer modeling and analysis software tools
Communication oral, written
Practical experience - how devices are made and

%Strength
27
22
19
17
3
2

%Weakness
1
13
10
2
14
24

Net
+26
+9
+9
+15
-11
-22

work
Problem solving & critical thinking - analysis
Design product creation
Business processes - entrepreneurship
Project management Overall systems perspective
Technical fundamentals new ME applications (bio,
nano, info, multi..)
Leadership
Experiments - laboratory procedures

2
1
1
1
1
0

9
5
6
3
1
0

-7
-4
-5
-2
0
0

0
0

0
0

0
0

Q2. What are the areas of greatest strength and weakness of your recent BS Mechanical
Engineering Technology graduates ?
As given in the table below, the industrial responses indicated that the two major areas of
strength for recent MET graduates were practical experience and computer modeling. The two major
weakness areas were communication and technical fundamentals in traditional ME disciplines. This is
similar to the BSME responses with the exception of practical experience, which is a feature of MET
programs.
Q3. In order for your enterprise to be competitive in the global economy, what additional
skills and knowledge do recent mechanical engineering graduates need ?
As given in Table 5-3 below, the two major areas for additional skills and knowledge for industry
were practical experience, and communication.
Q4. What are the drivers that lead your company to hire outside the US ?
The three factors most mentioned by the industrial respondents were global corporate presence
(37%), cost and location of growth markets (18%), and talent pool (8%). Sample responses were:
Global presence to bring work location closer to our clients
To sell to and support international customers
Its cheaper to hire an engineer in another country
Q5. What are the drivers that lead your company to hire inside the US ?
The three factors most mentioned by the industrial respondents were local talent (33%), security
and citizenship requirements (19%), and local demand (10%). Sample responses were:
Customer base is dominantly domestic
Need on site engineering to help keep new products in pipeline
US engineers have better communication and problem-solving skills
Stronger engineering education
Aspects of business are export controlled
Table 3 - 2 Strengths and Weaknesses of recent BS MET Hires
Category
Information processing electronic communication
Technical fundamentals traditional ME disciplines
Interpersonal/teamwork
Computer modeling and analysis software tools
Communication oral, written
Practical experience - how devices are made and
work
Problem solving & critical thinking - analysis
Design product creation
Business processes - entrepreneurship

%Strength
4
2
6
14
0
31

%Weakness
0
14
11
4
14
9

Net
+4
-12
-5
+10
-14
+22

0
4
0

4
0
2

-4
+4
-2

Project management Overall systems perspective

Technical fundamentals new ME applications (bio,
nano, info, multi..)
Leadership
Experiments - laboratory procedures

0
0
0

0
7
0

0
-7
0

0
0

2
0

-2
0

Q6. Would your company prefer more breadth with respect to education within the BSME
degree rather than depth ?
The responses from industry were 48% more breadth, 29% more depth, and 22 % more breadth
and depth. Sample comments were:
Technical breadth is important because engineering is multidisciplinary, and our engineers work on
systems, not components
Breadth across all disciplines is important to work on multifunctional projects
Breadth to have a broader perspective on what it takes to get a project done and the collaboration
needed across skill sets
New engineers would benefit from learning how engineering work is performed and managed
More concentration in skills that will be utilized thermodynamics, materials, manufacturing
processes.
Both depth enough to engage on a problem and breadth enough to understand context.

3.3ASMEEngineeringEducationConferenceSessionMarch2009
A Vision 2030 plenary session was held at the ASME Engineering Education conference at Hilton
Head, South Carolina in March 2009. There were 85 department heads and engineering educators at the
conference. At the plenary session, they were asked to respond to a set of questions by the Vision 2030
committee members. The questions and edited responses are given below. The responses were also
compared to the industrial responses using the same set of fifteen general categories as listed in Table 31.
Q1. What are the missing components in the traditional ME curriculum that will help
prepare students for the 21st century ?
The responses were organized into fifteen categories listed in the table below, and tabulated in
terms of frequency of response. These categories were created by the Vision 2030 committee to help
summarize the responses, and based on an analysis of both the industrial and engineering educator
responses. The leading category was technical fundamentals new ME applications, with about a
quarter of the responses. The next four were interpersonal and teamwork, overall systems perspective,
business processes and entrepreneurship, and global issues and challenges.
Overall, a number of respondents noted that since ME departments are organized around the
various ME disciplines it has been difficult for the ME faculty to use an interdisciplinary approach to broad
problems. The respondents also noted that the curriculum needs to be more attractive to women. It was
stated that curriculum revision should recognize that women are not motivated by the same things as
men, for example, the ME profession should place more emphasis on its role in helping others. The
respondents noted that the relative breadth of ME is a feature that should appeal to women and
minorities.
Note that relative to missing components there are major differences between the engineering
educator survey and the industrial survey. The major category for the educators was new ME
applications (bio, nano, info,) indicated by 27% of the respondents, while it was not mentioned once by
the industrial responders. The top missing components category for industry was practical experience
at 22%, while for the educators it was indicated by only 8%.
Some representative comments:
Understanding of mechanisms on the molecular level
Life science is a potential area with a technological focus

Integration of courses using a system view and seeing the big picture
Integrate the soft skills in the traditional courses
Provide students with an awareness and appreciation of engineering in a global context
Students do not have a background in the business sector, i.e., accounting, project operations, and
the need to make a profit.
What you are working on has to have a business case
Better value from general education, i.e., communication skills, technical writing skills
Table 3 -3 Missing Components in the ME Undergraduate Curriculum
Category
Technical fundamentals new ME applications (bio,
nano, info, multi..)
Interpersonal/teamwork
Overall systems perspective
Business processes - entrepreneurship
Practical experience - how devices are made and
work
Design product creation
Communication oral, written
Problem solving & critical thinking - analysis
Leadership
Experiments - laboratory procedures
Computer modeling and analysis software tools
Project management Technical fundamentals traditional ME disciplines
Information processing electronic communication

% Educator
27

% Industry
0

Diff
+27

10
10
10
8

13
4
8
22

-3
+6
+2
-14

6
6
4
4
2
2
2
1
0

2
16
3
3
1
5
8
13
0

+4
-10
+1
+1
+1
-3
-6
-12

Q2. What educational initiatives are necessary to ensure that mechanical engineers are
prepared to help solve the grand challenges of energy, climate, water, quality of life, and poverty ?
Overall, the respondents noted that the mechanical engineering profession, as it is the broadest
of the engineering disciplines, can contribute to all of the grand challenges. They also noted that a
general branding issue exists for the ME profession. Other disciplines have added names like
environmental or bioengineering to their names, which directly connects them with some aspects of the
global challenges. It was stated that through extracurricular activities, competitions, and with groups such
as Engineers without Borders, students have the opportunity to be involved with grand challenges.
It was also noted that the ME curriculum is not explicitly aligned with these grand challenges.
Suggestions were made that the definition and statements of engineering problems given to students
needs to be changed to put them in a grand challenge context. For example, use terms like robotics for
health care, and wind turbines for irrigation. The titles of ME courses could also be updated to reflect
these issues. The issue of systems integration was also raised.
Some representative responses:
Instill in engineering students an aspiration to work on broad issues
Connect every course to quality of life issues at all levels
Develop small case studies to address global challenges
MEs have not been in the leadership role for energy initiatives
Energy has a clear connection to ME, but it is not apparent from our curricula and projects
The fundamental core topics in ME -- fluids, thermodynamics, heat transfer are central to the grand
challenges
Every course should address the impact of these grand challenges

10

Q3. How will the practice of teaching change for the 21st century ? Project/practice based
learning is getting a lot of attention, will it grow and how ? Is the professional school model,
similar to medicine, a good idea ?
The responses indicated that many institutions are implementing project based learning to
various degrees. This approach models how projects are done in industry. There was interest in
assessing project breadth versus depth, and the resources (faculty, space, laboratory) required with this
approach. The senior capstone courses are currently considered to deliver project based learning
experiences.
There was an interest in flexibility in the curriculum, so that students can take specialized courses
such as entrepreneurship courses if they so desire. There was a stated need for text modules, not
textbooks, to integrate innovative material into the traditional courses. A recommendation was made to
aggregate best practices from different institutions to be shared among peers.
The participants were not in favor of a professional school model. There were questions raised
about the lack of industry support, and the additional cost to the engineering student. There was also not
a stated desire for a 5 year bachelors program, more credit hours, and more courses, but more of an
approach of broadening the content matter and integrating it into the existing curriculum. The need to
instill professionalism into students from the first day of classes was discussed.
Sample responses were:
Give students the option of tracks in management, leadership, thermal systems, mechanical
systems
Since there is a gap between the freshmen year and the senior capstone course for project based
learning, there should be a design spine
We need look into what is learned and what is used in practice
Q4. How can we substantially improve the communication and people skills , and the global
awareness of our graduates ? Can we do this without increasing the courses that our students
take ?
There was agreement that the future of ME education will be more about people, teaming, and
leadership. The general response was that more courses are not needed, but the emphasis of existing
courses should change. It was indicated that the communication skills of students is still an issue. The
capstone courses were repeatedly mentioned as a means of dealing with these issues. A
recommendation was also made that team projects should be integrated into most courses.
Development of partnerships with humanities and social science faculty and departments were
discussed. Strong multicultural courses, study abroad programs, and required courses with international
exposure were also recommended. A number of schools have developed courses that use the Internet to
partner with students in other countries.
Q5. Graduate education, particularly the masters degree, has received little or no attention
with respect to curricula content. What changes are necessary ?
Most of the respondents were satisfied with their current masters programs. The content and
requirements of the programs varied widely from institution. Most general programs gave the students the
option of choosing their own classes, and the specialized programs had very distinct course
requirements. Many of the masters programs were market driven, which depended on the urban/nonurban location of the school and nearby industry. Two general masters tracks were discussed, a terminal
masters, and a research masters.
Some of the recommendations were:
Expand and promote undergraduate research opportunities to motivate students for graduate
research,
Identify PhD level career opportunities in government agencies and industry,
Promote the stature of PhD candidates within universities, and the stature of PhDs in society,
and
Increase ASMEs role in post-bachelors level education.

11

3.4ASMEInternationalConferenceSessionNovember2009
A Vision 2030 conference session was held at the ASME Orlando International Conference in
November 2009. There were 31 department heads at the session. The questions and edited responses
are given below.
Q1. Is substantial change in mechanical engineering education needed ?
The respondents replied uniformly in the affirmative. The respondents indicated that there should
be more practical experience, more integration of fundamentals with design, meaningful interdisciplinary
experience, understanding sustainability, introduction to global issues, learning to innovate, need to be
more attractive to women and minorities, more flexibility to take areas of specialization, increased student
competitions, a smaller curriculum, teaching methods need to be changed, focus on student
competencies, and systems perspectives.
Q2. Should we work toward the MS degree being the first professional degree ?
No issues cited were graduate degree accreditation, no push for this by employers, and
increased student costs.
Q3. Practical experience has been the most cited weakness for ME curricula. Is this a
concern and how would you address this issue ?
Yes- internships, increased prototyping and design, build and test, design throughout the
curriculum, service projects, student competitions, research experience, additional laboratories.
Q4. What are the five subjects central to an ME curriculum ?
The five subjects that were mentioned by the respondents were: Mechanics (solid and fluid),
Materials, Dynamics and controls, Design, and Manufacturing.
Q5. What are five key professional skills that should be in the curriculum ?
The five subjects that were mentioned by the respondents were: Teamwork, Communication,
Product design and fabrication, Systems integration, and Modern software.
Q6. What are five subjects outside of ME that should be in the curriculum ?
The five subjects that were mentioned by the respondents were: Electrical circuits,
Communication, Business, Economics, and Life Sciences.

4.RecommendationsCurriculaandOutcomesforthe21stCentury
4.1Introduction
In this section we recommend curricular structures to strengthen two aspects of the
undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum that need improvement -- practical experience, and
flexibility. These recommendations reflect findings of previous reports, such as the two NSF 5xME
workshops, and the Carnegie Foundation. In addition, many of these recommendations are not new, have
been implemented and integrated into the curricula by a number of mechanical engineering departments,
and they have been shown to have a successful impact on desired departmental outcomes. To provide a
context for these recommendations, it is useful to point out the ABET program accreditation requirements
for BSME programs. These are 32 hours (25 % of a 128 credit program) mathematics and basic science,
and 48 hours (37.5 % of a 128 credit program) engineering topics.
Since the mechanical engineering profession has one of the lowest percentage of women and,
similar to all engineering fields, a low percentage of all underrepresented groups, to attract
underrepresented groups to the field of engineering, the message should be communicated as to the
positive impact that the mechanical engineering profession has on improving the world. This message
should be infused into the first-year engineering courses to ensure high retention of underrepresented
groups. Service-based projects that need innovative solutions should be made available for students
ranging from the first-year to the senior-year. Such service-based learning projects as those advocated

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by Engineers Without Borders need to be given national and international visibility. Prospective
employers will seek and promote ME graduates with unique and varied backgrounds to increase their
corporate market share in diverse cultures and situations.
As we create the future for mechanical engineering education, we can not be prescriptive, with a
one size fits all template. We recognize that every ME department has to align their curricula with their
overall institutional mission, whether it is a large land grant institution or a small private college.
Therefore, the most important consideration in our recommendations is flexibility. This consideration
respects differences in institutional missions, the breadth of the mechanical engineering discipline, and
accommodates the changing nature of engineering practice.
Based on the findings presented in the previous sections, there are a wide variety of possible
curricular structures, including
Business as usual, with occasional introduction of new topics;
The professional school model;
A more flexible bachelors degree with additional content at the masters level;
A pervasive practice-based curriculum;
A broader, multi-disciplinary and flexible curriculum meeting the general ABET criteria but no
disciplinary program criteria;
An engineering curriculum that integrates content, including the humanities and social sciences, and
pervasive communication skills;
A engineering systems-focused curriculum;
A curriculum emphasizing globalization, quality of life issues, and solving societies grand challenges;
A curriculum emphasizing the business of engineering, entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity;
In the spirit of curricular flexibility, the recommendations can be implemented in either four or five
th
year ME and MET programs. This would depend on factors such as the possible incorporation of a 5
year professional masters, the desired general breadth, and desired technical depth of the curriculum. For
these curricular elements, we also suggest an outcomes approach, so given a particular expertise or skill
set that is desired, one can outline a curriculum that is designed to produce students with strengths in
those particular skill sets.

4.2Professionalexperience
To strengthen the professional experience component of the students skill set, a significant
portion of the curriculum needs to be dedicated to such activities. In this case, the ME curriculum should
contain a design/build spine in which there would be a semester long design course in each of the
freshmen, sophomore, and junior years, and a two semester year long senior capstone design course. In
this design/build sequence, important elements of professional practice such as problem solving, design,
teamwork, and communication would be introduced, and then reinforced in subsequent courses in the
spine.
Professional skills such as problem solving, teamwork, leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation,
and project management would be central features of the design spine. The problem solving skills area
also incorporates problem formulation and judgment. Rather than propose a course in leadership, or a
course in innovation, we think that these skills should be learned in the context of a structured approach
to problem solving - problem formulation, problem analysis, and solution.
The Grand Challenges can be incorporated as elements into the early design courses to help
provide a context and engineering background for students as they take the science and mathematics
analysis courses. This also aids in indicating to students the areas where mechanical engineers are
needed to provide leadership in the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to these
challenges.
A BS degree ME curriculum with a strong design/professional spine could be configured as
follows:
25 % basic science and math (math, physics, chemistry, biology),
25% engineering principles (mechanics, dynamics, materials, thermo/fluids),
25% design/professional spine,
25% general education (liberal arts, humanities, social sciences, economics).

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Among ME departments, there is a wide variation of curricular offerings in the design/professional

area. Some ME departments have only a single semester senior capstone class, with no other specific
design/professional course offerings. An example multi year design/professional spine is outlined below,
with some specificity given for the recommended technical content. One of the main features of the spine
is that the design/ professional topics are reinforced from year to year, so there is no gap in the
sophomore and junior years, and the students can be prepared for a senior design project with a larger
scope and increased complexity. A multi-year design spine could be configured as follows:
Year 1 problem solving course, engineering computer graphics course
Year 2 product manufacturing course, design process course
Year 3 product development course
Year 4 two semester capstone senior design
The freshmen year of the design spine would include a problem solving course which would
cover engineering problem description and formulation, analytical modeling, approximate analysis,
numerical methods, and software tools; and an engineering computer graphics course computer aided
design, dimensioning, solid modeling, and visual communication. In the sophomore year the design spine
would include a product manufacturing course introducing students to basic machine shop skills, and an
introductory design process course covering design principles, open ended problem solving,
specifications, and small scale design projects. In the junior year, a product development course would
cover engineering aspects such as project planning, economics, project management, use of software
tools such as finite element and computational fluid dynamics programs.
A year long senior capstone class would provide a two semester sequence with the a focus on
larger scale engineering problem formulation, and the design, construction, and operation of an actual
piece of hardware to address the defined problem. The two terms would allow for the generation and
selection of design concepts, engineering analyses, detailed component design, fabrication, systems
integration and assembly, prototyping and testing, application, and failure analysis of the project. During
the year, students would prepare and follow a project plan and resource budget, write progress reports,
and deliver oral presentations to different audiences.
Implementation of this design spine will require both intellectual and financial resources: buy-in
from the faculty, use of industrial expertise as adjunct instructors, and increased workshop, laboratory
and design studio space. As many senior capstone design courses include industrial support, it will
become increasingly important to engage small to medium-sized companies that are seeking innovative
solutions. Other similar experiences which would strengthen the professional experience component of
ME education are internships and coop experiences. Many schools have very successful internship and
co-op programs, which take advantage of the capabilities of industrial partners to provide direct industrial
experience to students.

4.3Curricularflexibilityandtechnicaldepth
To provide more curricular flexibility to incorporate new applications and emerging technologies,
departments could designate a set of classes as their mechanical engineering core, which all students
would be required to complete. This core would consist of the first course in the fundamental ME
discipline areas, so as a consequence there would be a de-emphasis of some elements of the current
content. Other course groupings would be courses organized into concentration areas, such as
mechanics, thermal/fluid sciences, materials, controls, etc. The concentration areas would provide further
depth in the discipline. Once a student completed their core set of classes, they would choose a
concentration area, and then complete additional courses in that concentration area.
The concentration areas can be used to provide exposure to the emerging areas (bioengineering,
nanoscience, etc ) of mechanical engineering. Specialized courses in microfabrication, MEMS and
nanotechnology may need to be developed. Multi-scale modeling topics could be introduced in
engineering analysis, control and optimization courses. Biomedical, biomechanics and other healthrelated projects can be used in design and mechatronics classes at all levels of the curriculum.
As energy efficiency and combustion processes are a key part of sustainable engineering,
components could be included in thermodynamics, energy conversion and combustion courses as well. A
basic understanding of carbon capture and processing is needed to allow for more efficient technologies

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to be developed. In addition, fundamentals of batteries should be included in basic chemistry and physics
courses that would allow mechanical engineers to apply their knowledge to electrification of transportation
systems.

5.Acknowledgements
This project was funded by the ASME Foundation, whose support we gratefully acknowledge.
The following task force members contributed to the content of this report: Robert Warrington, Michigan
Technological University; Allan Kirkpatrick, Colorado State University; Scott Danielson, Arizona State
University; Alice Agogino, University of California at Berkeley; Frank Kulacki, University of Minnesota;
Robert Laurenson, Boeing; Richard Smith, Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute; Cynthia Stong, Boeing;
Karen Thole, Pennsylvania State University; Galip Ulsoy, University of Michigan; Steve Wendel, Sinclair
Community College; William Wepfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Lawrence Wolf, Oregon Institute of
Technology; and Thomas Perry, ASME.

6.References
ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), 2008, 2028 Vision for Mechanical
Engineering, Global Summit on the Future of Mechanical Engineering, Washington, D.C., April 16-18.
Crawley, E., Malmqvist, J., stlund, S., Brodeur, D., 2007, Rethinking Engineering Education:
The CDIO Approach, Springer, New York, NY.
NAE (National Academy of Engineering), 2004, The Engineer of 2020, The National Academies
Press, Washington, D.C.
NAE (National Academy of Engineering), 2005, Educating the Engineer of 2020, The National
Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
NSF (National Science Foundation), 2007, The 5XME Workshop: Transforming Mechanical
Engineering Education and Research in the US, January 25-27.
NSF (National Science Foundation), 2009, Implementing the Recommendations of the 5xME
Workshop, Lake Buena Vista, FL, November 12-14.
Sheppard, S., K. Macatangay, A. Colby, W. Sullivan, 2009, Educating Engineers, Jossey-Bass,
San Francisco, CA.

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