The University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter of the American Society for Engineering Education 1997-1998 Annual Report

The UT-Austin Student Chapter of the American Society for Engineering Education completed its first full academic year in 1997-98. Events and accomplishments included: six monthly chapter meetings on engineering education and professional development; a brown-bag lunch with a faculty member; a faculty/graduate student picnic; a practice interview seminar series for academia-bound students; and representation at the regional and national ASEE conferences.

Typically, 40 to 50 students and faculty attended each major event during the year, and over 125 engineering and natural science students are on a membership list maintained by the Chapter. UT graduate student membership in the national ASEE is now at 14 and growing. Funding for ASEE activities was provided by five of the engineering departments. This report details the mission and purposes of the organization, the events of the year, the chapter leadership, and the chapter budget.

The University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a student-based organization committed to furthering education in engineering. The mission is accomplished by providing services to promote effective teaching and to prepare members for a career in academia. The University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter of ASEE focuses its efforts toward graduate engineering and science students. The primary purposes are to:

The UT ASEE student chapter hosted a number of events and new programs during the 1997-98 academic year. These included brown bag lunches, lectures and workshops on teaching and professional development, a practice interview seminar series, and a final picnic. Early on, a tentative calendar of events was established and funding from the departments was solicited. Chapter meetings were typically planned for the third Monday of each month in the early evening. The practice interview seminars were planned as brown bag lunches on the first Thursday of each month. Typically, anywhere from 30 to 60 students attended the major events during the year.

Officers for the 1997-98 academic year were elected at last year’s final event during May 1997. The officers consisted of:

President Jeff Gray (ChE)

Vice-President Lia Arthur (ChE)

Secretary Bryan Shelton (ECE)

Treasurer Rob Stone (ME), replaced by Zeno Phillips (PGE)

Info. Resources Officer Frank Serpas (ME)

Membership Coordinator Tracy Vogler (ASE/EM)

Faculty Advisor Ron Barr (ME)

The first teaching seminar was held on September 15 and featured Dr. Billy Koen, who presented a talk titled "The Engineering Professor: The Ultimate Design Engineer." Dr. Koen discussed heuristics used to achieve the goals of engineering and engineering education. Emphasis was on how the beginning professor can be the most effective designer of the learning environment from the first day on the job. Dr. Koen is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UT-Austin and is an ASEE Fellow. Free pizza and soft drinks were served after the talk, courtesy of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Brown-bag lunches are small, informal discussion periods with individual UT faculty members. Because of the nature of the event, attendance is limited to about a dozen students. The first brown bag lunch for this academic year featured Dr. Eric Taleff. It was held on Tuesday, October 7, at 12:30 PM in ETC 3.150 (Rowe Room). Dr. Taleff is an Assistant Professor who has been in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department for almost three years. He discussed getting a faculty position, the duties and expectations for a new faculty member, how he balances his time between research and teaching, and miscellaneous comments on academia. Lunches were provided courtesy of the C. E. Rowe Room endowment fund in Mechanical Engineering.

The ability to secure research money is a prerequisite for a successful career in academia. A proposal writing workshop was conducted on October 20, 1997 to show faculty members-to-be how to prepare themselves for this part of the job. Two UT-Austin faculty members were the featured speakers: Dr. Waneen Spirduso, Mauzy Regents Professor of Kinesiology & Health Education, and Dr. Buddie Mullins, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Spirduso is the co-author of "Proposals That Work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals." Dr. Mullins is the recipient of an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award. They presented general proposal-writing advice and also discussed issues specific to the field of engineering. Refreshments for the workshop were sponsored by the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Under the title "WE'RE TEXAS...WHO ARE THEY?", a panel session on teaching at regional engineering colleges was hosted on November 17, 1997. While UT-Austin is a large research institution, other schools put more emphasis on teaching and undergraduate education. Anyone considering a career in academia should determine what type of school best fits their interests and career goals. The panel discussion addressed issues related to teaching at smaller institutions of higher learning in the central Texas region. The following engineering professors were present on the panel:

Dr. David Beams, University of Texas at Tyler

Dr. Mahbub Uddin, Trinity University (San Antonio)

Dr. Giles Willis, Baylor University (Waco)

Dr. Jeff Wolfenstine, The University of Texas at San Antonio

Arrangements for this panel discussion were supported by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

Since the seminar is one of the most important parts of the academic interview, the Chapter initiated a seminar series featuring members who are entering the job market. Chapter members who are graduating soon gave informal practice seminars to the chapter, and afterwards the

audience provided constructive feedback to the speaker. In this way, the speaker is prepared for upcoming interviews, and the attending members will gain an appreciation for some of the research going on in other departments. Three seminars were given this academic year:

1. December 5, 1997

Eric Brown, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering

Title: "Optical Measurements of the Full Stress Tensor of Viscoelastic Fluids"

2. February 5, 1998

Yousof Q. Abd Al-Jalil, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Civil Engineering

Title: "Performance of Tunnel Boring Machines in Rock"

3. March 5, 1998

J. Carson Meredith, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Chemical Engineering

Title: "Colloids in Supercritical Fluids"

On January 27, 1998, a talk was presented by Dr. Uri Treisman on "Thinking About Diversity in a Post-Affirmative Action Era." Dr. Treisman is a Professor of Mathematics and director of UT Austin's Charles A. Dana Center, which strives for equity and excellence in mathematics, science, and technology education. The talk presented ways in which diversity can be a resource for realizing the traditional goals of higher education and described several programs and instructional approaches that have demonstrably improved the academic performance and persistence of students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. For his work in developing programs that have helped minority students to excel in mathematics, Dr. Treisman was named by Newsweek magazine as one of three American educators "on the leading edge of innovation." Sandwiches and sodas were served after the talk, courtesy of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

On February 23, 1998, Dr. William Koros (former Chairman of the UT Chemical Engineering Dept.) presented a seminar on how to prepare an academic curriculum vitae. He discussed the best ways to market oneself as a potential engineering educator, and handed out some examples of proper CV material. Also at the meeting, names were solicited for the '98-'99 officer elections. Refreshments for this event were sponsored by the Department of Chemical Engineering.

A presentation was made on the use of multimedia in engineering instruction by Mechanical Engineering Professor Dr. Philip Schmidt on March 24, 1998. Dr. Schmidt, Director of the Instructional Media Laboratory and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, showed examples of video tapes, web-based instruction, and presentation graphics software that he has used successfully in the classroom environment. After the presentation, the ASEE Student Chapter officers for 1998-99 were elected. Food and soft drinks were provided, courtesy of the Department of Civil Engineering.

New officers for the ASEE Student Chapter for 1998-99 were elected on March 24. The new Chapter leaders are:

President: Norman Grady (CE)

Vice-President: Jennifer Maynard (ChE)

Secretary: Bryan Shelton (ECE)

Treasurer: Anna Razatos (ChE)

Info. Resources: Michael Tsurikov (ASE/EM)

Membership: David Garza (ASE/EM)

The 1998 ASEE Gulf-Southwest Section Meeting was held on March 26-27 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Faculty present from UT included Ron Barr, Christi Moore, and Hilary Hart, and Frank Serpas represented the ASEE Student Chapter.

The new and old officers hosted an end of the year picnic at Eastwoods Park on Friday, April 24, 1998. All Chapter members and ASEE faculty members were invited. Sandwiches and ice cream were served, courtesy of the Civil Engineering Department, and attendance was good. Out-going officers were presented with ASEE mementos.

The 1998 ASEE Summer Conference was held in Seattle, Wsahington in late June 1998. The ASEE Student Chapter was represented by four members: Jeff Gray, Irem Tumer, Lia Arthur, Norm Grady. Tumer and Arthur presented a talk on "Benefits of Team Teaching for Doctoral Students Preparing for Academic Careers," and Gray shared the 97-98 activities of the chapter at a student chapters roundtable.

During the summer of 1997, the chapter officers met with department chairs and deans to discuss the role of the chapter in the college. The departments and administration were all very supportive of the goals, and five of the departments agreed to support the chapter financially. We gratefully thank these departments for their contributions this year:

Chemical Engineering ($1,000)

Civil and Environmental Engineering ($1,000)

Electrical and Computer Engineering ($1,000)

Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics ($500)

Mechanical Engineering ($500)

Sponsorship by these departments provided funding for special speakers, refreshments at meetings, and conference expenses. Their support is greatly appreciated!

The final budget for 1997-98 is attached as Appendix A.

The chapter web site has been updated for the new year: see http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~asee/ to keep posted on events and activities through the year.