Engineering Globalization Workshop
Infusing the Global Corporate
Perspective into Engineering Education
Martin W. Trethewey1, Leland G. Engel1, Edward C. DeMeter2
1 Department
of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
2 Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
May 17, 2012
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Penn State World Class Engineer
21st Century Engineering Skills
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Aware of the World
Solidly Grounded
Technically Broad
Innovative
Effective in Teams
Successful as Leaders
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To facilitate the integration of professional aspects of
engineering into the student’s education
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Capstone Education Approach
An industry sponsored team based activity
• Student operated consulting
company
• Industry sponsored project
• Faculty coach
• Students report to
Student Team
• Industry sponsor
• Faculty coach
Faculty Coach
Project Sponsor
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8 Engineering Programs
Up to 500 students/semester
Up to 100 projects/semester
Interdisciplinary teams
• Non engineering team members
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Global Industry Project Capstone
• Vision
– Create Global Student project teams
– Industry sponsored project
– Mimic operation of globally distributed corporate engineering teams
• Attributes
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No student travel
Intercultural experience
Develops global teaming skills
High student capacity with low operational cost
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Global Course Organization
• Student team members
– From different international partner universities
• Existing capstone activities
– Use as much of existing course structure as possible
• Flexibility required to integrate courses
– Capstone course may not exist at non USA universities
• Project acquisition and sponsorship
– Corporate partnership
• Ideally sponsors have operations in both countries
• Corporate-University relationships in both countries
• Local student team interaction
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Pilot Programs
Spring 2010
Fall 2011
• China
• Singapore
– 2 project teams
– 1 corporate sponsor
– 2 project teams
– 2 corporate sponsors
• Korea
– 2 project teams
– 2 corporate sponsors
Season 2
• Spring 2011
– 6 project teams
– 4 corporate sponsors
– Student participants
• Penn State – 20
• SJTU – 12
• Fall 2011
– 4 project teams
– 4 corporate sponsors
– Student participants
• Penn State – 12
• Korea – 20
• Singapore – 8
Yike Bike
Student Team Operation
• Global Corporate Engineering Team Procedures
– Electronic communications
– Video conferences
– Integrated reports
– Weekly tele/video conferences with sponsor
Technical Outcomes
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Technical Outcomes
• Instructors’ evaluation of Global Projects
― Equivalent to higher performing co-located domestic teams
― Innovation resulted from having global perspective
― Tasking separated to use strengths and facilities at each university
Student Global Competency
Communication
• Chinese student - “Americans can be so assertive, … you just need
to be as assertive as them to cope with that” (translated from
Chinese).
• American student - “I would make a statement and he would say
‘yes’. In the beginning you figured great and move on. Then a short
time later he would say something else, as a reaction. I finally
learned he meant, “yes, I understand, give me a second to clarify
my thoughts”. …. so I learned you have to wait, be patient, make
sure that they have time to speak, and encourage them to speak”
• Korean student – “the project gave me the confidence to work and
speak in English”
Student Global Competency
Global Teaming
• “the truly hard work internationally was to be dynamic and adapt
quickly because you have the time difference”
• “The amount of emails could be overwhelming. One afternoon, U.S.
time, the Americans exchanged 13 emails while the Chinese were
sleeping. When the Chinese students got up in the morning, it was
a little difficult to keep track of the discussion and they expressed
they were a little overwhelmed.”
– The Americans realized the problem called for a video conference to
explain.
– One Chinese student’s response “sorry we missed the hot debate”
– The team limited email to make sure people do not get overwhelmed.
Student Global Competency
Corporate View
• "The students actually found ways to leverage the
13-hour time zone difference”
• "This was a 'follow the sun' global workflow at its
best."
• "The interactions between these international
student teams are the same that our engineers
across Tyco deal with every day"
– Naren Gursahaney, President ADT
Global Student Teaming Challenges
Faculty
• More demanding
– 25% to 50% more effort
• Intercultural awareness
– Lead by example
• Flexible and adaptable
Formula for Success
• A Strong University Partnership
– Committed to global cooperation
– Likeminded faculty & administration
– Champions
• Course-project delivery
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Faculty familiarity and strong working relationship
Flexibility and adaptability
Careful project tasking
Careful project scheduling
• Multi-national Corporate Partners
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Devoted personnel to interact with student team
Global teaming expertise
Source for projects
University & Industry partnerships critical
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Penn State Growth
Spring 2012 (Season 3)
• 2 Departments
– Interdisciplinary teams
• 11 project teams
– 8 corporate sponsors
– 48 Penn State students
– 22 SJTU students
Summary
Global Student Engineering Teams
• Non-travel based activity
• Requires significant faculty commitment for
development
• Strong industry support
• Expandable to reach large student contingent
• Cost effective
• Produces a meaningful international experience
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