2006 ERC Annual Meeting November 29, 2006

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2006 ERC Annual MeetingNovember 29, 2006

• Student Leadership Council Retreat
• Lynn Preston
• Leader of the ERC Program and
• Deputy Division Director
• Division of Engineering Education and Centers
• National Science Foundation

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Driving Forces for the NSFEngineering Research
Centers Program

• Continual innovation is need to keep U.S.
  industry ahead foreign competitors strength in
  engineers is wide-spread globally
• Globalization is shifting routine engineering
  jobs offshore, US engineers need to be at the
  forefront of innovation
• Engineering must involve a more diverse spectrum
  of faculty and students to capture the genius of
  all people for engineering
• Integration of fundamental research with systems
  and engineering practice produces more
  competitive engineering graduates
• Partnerships between academe and industry speed
  knowledge/technology transfer and prepare a more
  competitive future workforce

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Engineering Research Centers ProgramGuiding
Goals

• Create and sustain an integrated,
  interdisciplinary research culture in partnership
  with industry to
• Advance fundamental engineering knowledge and
  engineered systems
• Educate a globally competitive and diverse
  engineering workforce

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Key Features of an ERC(A Forcing Function for
Culture Change in Academe)

• Long-term, strategic vision for a transforming
  engineered systems
• Strategic plan to realize the systems vision
• Integrated, cross-disciplinary research program,
  encompassing fundamental to systems research and
  proof-of-concept testbeds
• Education program teams undergraduate and
  graduate students and integrates research
  findings into curricular materials for students
  and practitioners
• Pre-college Outreach motivates students to study
  engineering and infuses engineering concepts into
  the pre-college classroom
• Partnership with industry and other practitioners
  formulates, evolves, and strengthens the ERC and
  speeds technology transfer.

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How ERCs Prepare Graduates to be Leaders

• Experience in a cross-disciplinary, team oriented
  culture
• Experience integrating knowledge and
  technological innovation
• Opportunities for project management
• Opportunities to develop communication skills
  through presentations to industry and NSF site
  visitors
• Internships in industry and close contact with
  potential employers
• Experience explaining engineering concepts to
  students and teachers, important for future
  communications challenges
• Student Leadership Councils prepare SWOT
  analyses of the performance of their ERCs,
  communicate impact of ERC on students to ERC
  management and NSF, good training for
  management
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

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Comparisons by Member Firms of Performance of ERC
Graduates With Non-ERC Hires
Percentage of ERC member firms representatives
rating the former ERC students/graduates hired by
their firm as Better Than or Much Better
Than equivalent hires without ERC experience.
SRI International, Impact on Industry of
Interactions with Engineering Research Centers,
Dec 2004
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Role of an ERC Student Leadership Council

• Organizes student activities to fulfill the goals
  of ERC Program
• Manages a SWOT analysis process to determine how
  well the ERC is achieving its goals from a
  student perspective
• Meets with the Director and others on ERC
  Leadership team to convey the SLCs SWOT and
  determine how to deal with weaknesses/threats
• Works with the other members of the ERC
  Leadership team to improve the ERC
• Meets with NSF site visit teams to present the
  SLCs SWOT, discuss the strengths and weaknesses
  of the ERC, and report on progress
• Works with Education Director to manage student
  involvement in pre-college activities
• Works Industrial Liaison Officer to manage
  student involvement with industry/practitioners
• Facilitates student social activities to build a
  cohesive ERC team

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The SLC SWOT Analysis Process

• An Industry Tool for Strategic Improvement
• S - Strengths (Major)
• W - Weaknesses (Major)
• O - Opportunities (New Dimensions)
• T - Threats (Internal to the ERC)

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Student SWOT Analysis Joins ERC Students NSF in
Partnership to Strengthen an ERC

• ERC Program uses post-award oversight to
  strengthen the ERCs and terminate weak centers
• Annual and renewal reviews through NSF site
  review teams are the primary source of
  information on the progress of an ERC
• Students meet with the site visit team to provide
  feedback on the progress of the ERC
• Student SWOT analysis is the tool for this
  feedback to NSF and an organized mechanism for
  feedback to the ERCs leadership team

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SWOT Analysis Process

• The SLC members convene ERC students to carry out
  a SWOT analysis, some do it online
• Private meeting of the students
• Students analyze the strengths of the ERCs Key
  Features (Vision, Strategic Plan, Research,
  Education, Industrial Collaboration, Leadership
  Team, Mgt., Equipment/ Space)
• Determine the major strengths
• Determine the major weaknesses
• Determine if the ERC is missing opportunities to
  capitalize on its strengths to deliver
  innovations in some key features
• Determine if there are any serious weaknesses
  internal to the ERC that will be threats to its
  ability to fulfill its vision and goals

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SWOT Analysis Process/Format

• Narrow down to key key Strengths, Weaknesses,
  Opportunities, and Threats
• Put them in priority order under each category
• Prepare four viewgraphs (one for each category,
  i.e. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and
  Threats)
• Prepare a brief written report with more detail
  on the bullets, this is for the ERCs Leadership
  team
• Communicate SWOT findings to the ERC leadership
  team and to the NSF site visit team during the
  annual review
• To update annually, show progress achieved in
  dealing with the prior SWOT findings