Prof. Anthony Kuh, University of Hawaii

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University of Hawai’i
, College of
Engineering, Department of Electrical
Engineering Overview
 Trends in Engineering Education

UH M ānoa at a Glance
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Founded: 1907
Location: M ānoa Valley, Island of O`ahu
Academics
 Average class size: 24
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Colleges: 11
Schools: 9
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Degrees:
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Bachelor’s degrees in 87 fields
Master’s degrees in 87 fields
 Doctoral degrees in 51 fields
 Professional degrees in 3 fields
Accreditation: Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Faculty
Full-time faculty: 1,272
Student-faculty ratio: 16:1

UH M ānoa at a Glance
Students
Total student population: 20,005
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Undergraduate: 13,781
Graduate: 6,224
Hawaii (in-state) students: 69 percent
Out of state students: 21 percent
International students: 10 percent
States represented: 50
Countries represented: 103
Male/female ratio: 44:56
Ethnic Diversity
African American: 1.2 percent
Asian: 47.8 percent
Caucasian: 22.9 percent
Hawaiian: 9.7 percent
Hispanic: 2.5 percent
Mixed: 10.3 percent
Pacific Islander: 4.0 percent
Other: 1.6 percent

UH M ānoa at a Glance
Research
 Only one of 13 institutions with distinction of being a land, sea and space-grant research institution.
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Classified by Carnegie Foundation as having “very high research activity.”
 Ranked by NSF in the top 30 public universities in federal research funding for engineering and science.
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In ’09-’10 UH was awarded over $460M in external grants and contracts, mostly from UH Mānoa.

Celebrated 100 years of Engineering
Education at UH Mānoa in 2008
Holmes Hall
College of Engineering
Programs ABET accredited

Re-Engineering our Infrastructure for a
Sustainable Future
The College of Engineering will be recognized as an indispensible facet of sustainable living and high-tech growth in Hawaii and Asia Pacific, leading the development of physical and cyber infrastructures to meet the increasingly complex needs of society, while contributing to nationally prominent engineering challenges.

 Department of Electrical Engineering – BS, MS,
PhD & Computer Engineering – BS
 Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering – BS, MS, PhD
 Department of Mechanical Engineering – BS,
MS, PhD

~60 faculty
~750 undergrad students
~220 pre-engineering students
~180 grad students
~$8M/yr. external research expenditures
~$1.5M/yr. gifts

1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
College Student Enrollment
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate Average Time to Degree = 5.42 years
Average graduates per year = 138

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Naval Shipyards
Construction companies
State agencies – e.g. Department of
Transportation
Large military suppliers - Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, Boeing, SAIC,
Raytheon,…….usually on the US Mainland
Other State entities – e.g. Hawaiian Electric Co.
(local utility)
Growing number of high-tech and renewable energy companies in Hawaii

The College has played an increasing role in K-12 STEM outreach with assistance from the State, the
Department of Education and contributing companies.
The College has also been one of the principal supporters of the many K-12 robotics contests that take place all over the islands.
The College’s Career Fairs , twice a year, provide many companies in Hawaii and the US west coast access to its students and reciprocally help its students hone their skills and presentations as they move into the work force.

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Autonomous, Unmanned Systems
Biomedical Engineering
Coastal Infrastructure
Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering
Communications, Radar and Cyber Physical
Systems
Computer Engineering and Computer Modeling
& Simulation
Recycling, Re-manufacturing and Corrosion
Renewable energy

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Hawai‘i
Space Flight Lab. (HSFL) - joint with School of Ocean & Earth Science &
Technology (SOEST)
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Hawai‘i Center for
Advanced Communications (HCAC)
 Member of UHM Water Resources Research Center
 Local Technology Assistance Program (LTAP)
–
Transportation
 National Center for Island, Maritime and Extreme Environment Security (CIMES) –
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Center, joint with SOEST and partnered with University of Alaska and University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
 Renewable Energy and Island Security (REIS)
 Retention Program for Native Hawaiian Engineering and Science Students
 K-12 Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach

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EE dept. started about 50 years ago with first graduating class in 1961
Established strength in communications, coding, and networks in 60s and 70s
 ALOHA project: In 1970 ARPA funded project in EE that had critical impact on development of Internet
In 80s built Physical Electronics Lab, started computer area, and expanded department
In 90s several EE faculty were successful in communication and IT startups (lost many faculty to both industry and other academic institutions)

 Currently 220 UG students, 70 Graduate students, 20 faculty
 Computer Engineering approved by BOR last year.
 Successfully went through ABET accreditation
 Established multidisciplinary Renewable
Energy and Island Sustainability (REIS) group
 Received internal and external funding
 HKN won three outstanding chapter awards

 Curriculum
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Classes
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Science and Math
Engineering
General
Laboratories
Projects
 Student activities (clubs, programs)
 Other activities (outreach, industry)

Tracks
Electives
Computer
Architecture
VLSI circuits
Software
Networking
Electrophysics
Analog & Mixed
Signal Circuits
Physical Electronics
Microwave Electronics
Bioelectronics
Systems
Communications
Control Systems
Signal Processing
Networking
Fundamental EE Courses
Chemistry Physics Calculus
Hands on projects and laboratories

ICS 141
Discrete
Math
Computer Electrophysics Systems
Fundamental EE Courses
Chemistry Physics Calculus

 Undergrad Instructional Facilities
Physical Electronics
Lab (PEL)
3 Instructional
Circuits Labs
EE Shared Computing
Lab
Comm., Controls
Signal Proc.
Networking Lab
Power Systems,
Electronics Lab
EM and Optics
Instructional Lab

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Webpage listing projects: 196/296/396/496
Individual and team projects
EE496: Senior capstone design project
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Major design content
Writing intensive
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Topics incorporate (2 of following)
 Data collection & analysis, design methodology, design tools, instruments
Program Outcomes

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Research gives undergraduate students a chance to
Work on design projects (x96)
Recruitment tool for graduate school
Multidisciplinary Research Projects in EE
• Renewable Energy and Island Sustainability Group
 Green Holmes Hall Initiative
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• COCONETS (Coding Communications Networks
Security) Lab
Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering
Small satellite program
Physical Electronics Lab (MEMs, Nano)

 IEEE (Institute of Electrical And Electronics
Engineers) Student Chapter
 HKN (Eta Kappa Nu) EE honor society
 SWE (The Society of Women Engineers)
Student Chapter
 NHSEMP (Native Hawaiian Science &
Engineering Mentorship Program)

HCATT Tour Volunteering At Head Start
IEEE Halloween BBQ
Volunteering Engineering
Alumni Golf Tournament

 Interface with industry
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Career fairs
Summer student intern programs
Coop programs
 Outreach
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Assist in recruitment of K-12 student into STEM careers
Mentors for K-12 students
Presentations (COE Banquet, Open House)
Community Projects

 Careers in engineering
 Engineering education perspectives
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Trends in education
Developing expertise
Engineering education concerns
Transforming engineering education
Many ideas taken from talk by
Dr. Don Lewis Millard, NSF

 Well paying stable jobs
 Diversity of jobs
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Areas: healthcare, information technology, transportation, infrastructure, energy and environment
Type of company: Aerospace/Defense,
Information Technology, Energy/Utility,
Consulting, Startup
 Making an impact on society

 Solid training in fundamentals (math, science, engineering)
 Understanding of design
 Using computers and internet technology
 Good communication skills, working in teams
 High ethical standards
 Understanding global, societal, environmental issues
 Life long learning

 Education costs
 National trends
 Engineering curriculum
 Too tough
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Not exciting
Underrepresented groups discouraged

Family costs: ~1.5X
Medical costs: ~2.5X
College: ~4.4X
“Measuring up 2008”

“Measuring up 2008”

“Measuring up 2008”

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Erosion of our national “educational capital” is occurring just when we need more college educational workers
 Baby boomers retiring
 Increasing skill requirements are necessary for new engineering related jobs
“Dr. Don Millard”

“Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future –if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas – then we also have to win the race to educate our kids”
“Dr. Don Millard”

Consistent across scientists/engineers in discipline
“C. Wieman adapted from D. Hammer”

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Expert has
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Factual knowledge
Mental organizational framework -> retrieval and application
Ability to monitor own thinking and learning (Do I understand this? How can I check ?)
New way of thinking: requires many hours of intense practice to develop (10000 hours) (Anders Ericcson)
Also applicable to athletes, musicians, scientists, doctors
“Dr. Don Millard”

 Science-based engineering
 Computer in the classroom
 Active, team-based learning
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Widespread internet access
Jampacked curriculum ….
“Dr. Don Millard”

 Active classrooms trumps passive classrooms
 Reflection fosters re-organization of thinking for deep learning
 Students will learn more if provided less at any given time (average capacity of memory is 7 chunks)
8089567527 vs. (808)-956-7527

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Industry needs a combination of left/right brain thinking
Engineering jobs require good research, synthesis, systems integration abilities
China is trying to become more innovative, while the US is trying to become more rigorous ( it is better to be the
US )
Need to stimulate, enable, and foster creativity ( Why did
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs,& Mark Zuckerberg drop out of college?
)
“Dr. Don Millard”

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Poor performance in intro math/science courses
Coursework too restrictive for students’ varied interests
Perception that other classes are more fun – view engineering as a competitive and uncaring field
A feeling of isolation from the rest of the university – due to the workload, lack of cross disciplinary opportunities
“Dr. Don Millard”

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Lack of role models – especially for women and underrepresented minority students
Poor advising & teaching – combined with a lack of exposure to engineering early on … leads to discouragement and departure
Fear of outsourcing
Lack of connection between what is studied and perceived as exciting practice
“Dr. Don Millard”

 Guided inquiry
 Concept inventories
 Peer-led team learning
 Problem-based learning
 Active recall of information
 Effective use of technology
“Dr. Don Millard”

is constantly changing and depends to a great extent on feedback from our constituents:
 Students
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Parents
Administration
Industry
Alumni
Accreditation (WASC, ABET)