Distance Learning: Worldwide Graduate Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic Change

1
Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Prof. R.D.(Bob) Lorenz, Ph.D., P.E., F.IEEE,
• Co-Director Wisconsin Electric Machines Power
  Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC)University of
  Wisconsin-Madison
• President, IEEE Industry Applications Society
• Control and Sensor Integration Leader
• Center for Power Electronic Systems (CPES)
• SEW Eurodrive Guest Professor
• Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical
  Drives Technical University of Rhein
  Westfalen-Aachen

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Premise "Distance learning, if properly formed,
  can have a strategic capability to enable dynamic
  change and bond industry with academia in a
  highly synergistic relationship."
• Key ingredients high quality research,
  relevance to industry
• Basis Ten years experience in the University of
  Wisconsin-Madison graduate research industrial
  consortium, WEMPEC.
• Strategic element in WEMPEC
• WEMPEC now celebrating 20 years
• Now evolving in CPES (in 3rd year)

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Basic need for distance learning
• Half-life of engineers
• Career-long needs
• Graduate level degrees
• Advanced, state-of-the-art knowledge
• Connecting creation of knowledge with potential
  users
• Ticklers
• In-depth exposure needs
• Partnership program design

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Partnership - University needs
• Market research for research relevant to
  industry
• Funding for basic and fundamental engineering
  research
• Funding for new engineering pedagogy
• Partnership - Industry needs
• New research results relevant to industry
• In-depth training in rapidly advancing new
  technologies
• Not generally well developed
• Key technology leaders

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• University/Industry partnerships
• Research consortium (WEMPEC)
• Collective funding of research program with
  multiple faculty team
• Liaison Engineers in industry directly with the
  faculty members
• Engineers in industry are champions
• A bi-directional visionary and feedback role
• University/Government/Industry partnerships
• Engineering research centers (CPES)
• Government leverages industrial funding of
  research program with multiple faculty
• Liaison Engineers in industry with faculty
  members and with government
• A multi-directional visionary and feedback role

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• A synergistic evolution - WEMPEC as an example
• WEMPEC founded 1980
• Collective industrial funding of basic,
  pre-competitive research
• Annual WEMPEC faculty visits to sponsors
• Seminars and market research for research
• Market exits for teaching research material
• WEMPEC courses on advancing technology
• Short courses alone are not adequate support for
  technology transfer
• Advanced continuing education needed
• Late 80s, distance learning graduate courses
  took off
• Telecommunications and media opportunities

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Distance learning graduate education Market
  segments
• Degree seeking
• Young engineers still refining their specialty
• Mature engineers changing career paths
• Non-Degree seeking
• Mature engineers adapting to continuous change
• Distance learning graduate education
  Expectations
• Degree seeking
• Institution and instructor reputation
• Non-Degree seeking
• Technical content and efficient pedagogy

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Identifying potential distance learning products
  
• Consistent with new knowledge need as
  identified
• Dynamically changing content
• Research connection
• Degree level courses (USA -based, EE examples)
• B.S., the Bachelor of Science in Electrical
  Engineering
• Standardized B.S., with slow but uniform changes
  in course programs
• M.S., the Masters of Science in Electrical
  Engineering
• Research and non-research (project) M.S. with
  specialized course programs
• Ph.D., the Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical
  Engineering
• Research Ph.D. with state-of-the-art, required
  Ph.D. formal course programs

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Identifying potential distance learning products
• Ph.D. level, formal, state-of-the-art courses
  (full 15 week)
• Efficient mechanism for uniformly preparing a
  team for research
• Uniform basis for communication
• Uniform vision of approaches and challenges
• State-of-the-art focus and depth is faculty skill
  level dependent
• Research must be translated into good teaching
• Dynamic content is based on research directions
• Course work is used to develop in-depth
  knowledge
• M.S. level specialization courses
• Prerequisite knowledge preparation for Ph.D.
  level courses

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Constraints for Engineers in Industry
• Timing of access
• Flexible, small bites, asynchronous
• Asynchronous is key element
• Feedback communication
• Response time expectations
• Strategic role of instant replay
• Portability
• Access/use anywhere
• Cost of access usage
• No expensive access charges
• Portable media is better than the internet

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience
• Course offerings

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Course offerings
• Lecture courses
• Full 15 week long, 3 lecture hr/week Ph.D. (M.S.)
  courses
• Projects extensive design projects
• Final exam usually a comprehensive final
  project
• Grading by normal A B C scales
• Lab courses (2)
• Intensive 3 week (15 days) on-campus covering
  normal 15 weeks
• Prelab lectures for preparatory material
• Based on practical use of lecture course material

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Course setting
• Video studio live classroom
• 2 or 3 cameras, overhead camera, computer screen
• active mixing by director
• Excellent focus on key points with zoomed images
• Live class of graduate students
• 5/95 rule applies
• full student/faculty interaction is captured
• Active recognition of questions and participants
• Lively presentations
• Limited class size (20 max) and intimate theatre
  promote communication

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Course Delivery
• Video tape currently
• DVD next generation (problems supporting 3
  current formats)
• Properties
• Fully asynchronous - no scheduled class hours
• Full access anywhere at zero operating cost
• Pedagogical benefits
• On campus - library checkout for video carols or
  for class room use
• Instant replay - individual control
• All content can be absorbed at user-determined
  rate
• More content is included - everything is
  accessible!

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Course interaction
• Captured lecture interaction is nearly real (good
  virtual attendance)
• Email and Websites
• Distribution of projects and handouts
• Email circles (chat rooms) amongst distance
  learning students
• Virtual student community bonding
• Submission of project reports
• Standards for reports, (i.e. paper guidelines)
• Electronic grading
• fully readable comments, graphics, equations,
  etc.
• Telephone
• some one-on-one is still necessary and very
  helpful for feedback

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Course Updates
• Continuous content changes
• Key value to be maintained
• Filtered and structured view of state-of-the-art
• Faster than reviewing and dissecting research
  papers
• Re-recording frequently (every other time taught)
• Update options
• Purchase update plans
• Value in re-taking the same class

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Strategic relationship
  building
• Newly acquired material is applied in solving
  current problems
• Novel ideas integrated quickly
• Ideas owned by the firms supporting their
  engineers in classes
• Patents resulting from distance learning
• Common base for understanding and effective
  cooperation
• Common jargon, common methods, common notation
• Common background for hiring
• Becoming a benchmark for hiring

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• WEMPEC Experience Strategic relationship
  building
• Technology transfer
• Project work provides substantial experience and
  thorough understanding
• Direct transfer
• Greater bread and depth, full understanding
• Harnessing energy of the distance learners
• Distance learners are self-motivated, and have
  high energy levels
• Highly effective students for challenging
  research
• Quality feedback on the course material
• Maintaining and building teams
• Distance learners stay on-site, maintain
  connections
• Able to contribute advances to teams

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC

• Center for Power Electronic Systems (CPES)
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Virginia Tech
• Rennselaer Polytechnic
• Univ. of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
• North Carolina A T
• Integrated Power Electronic Packaging - 10 Year
  program
• Thermal-Mechatronic, 3-D, Physical Design of
  Integrated Converters
• Simultaneous electrical, electromagnetic,
  thermal, and mechanical design models
• Design for reliability
• Control for reliability

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC
Conclusions

• Distance Teaching/Learning
• Strategic for University/Industry research
• Strategic for technology transfer
• World-wide expansion structure
• Distance teaching
• Distance learning
• Distance research
• WEMPEC already and increasingly CPES

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC
Conclusions

• Key elements for success
• Industry relevant research commitment
• Advanced knowledge the market needs and wants
• University technology leadership
• Faculty teaching commitment
• Sound pedagogy
• Productive pedagogy

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Distance Learning World-wide Graduate
Engineering Education Compatible with Dynamic
Change
WEMPEC
Conclusions

• Distance teaching/learning products
• Ph.D. level courses
• with in-depth project focus
• - not just a tickler
• State-of-the-art focus
• - visionary research
• - comprehensive breadth of the team
• Dynamic change
• - staying on the leading edge