Published on June 15, 2012

I’ve just returned from the American Society for Engineering Education conference in San Antonio, Texas.  No surprise, it was hot, hotter than I remember it being when I was a student at Trinity University ( Go Tigers!  Class of 1984).  And I probably ate too much Tex-Mex (who can drive by Taco Cabana and not order a bean and cheese taco?).  But the conference was the key, and I was able to see many old friends, hear some interesting ideas, and share news about our inaugural Making Academic Change Happen workshop that we hosted at Rose-Hulman May 29-June 2, 2012.  Perhaps the most interesting session I went to featured Donna Riley, engineering professor from Smith College’s Picker School of Engineering, and Amy Slaten, Drexel University, who provided a thorough critique of the ABET outcomes-based accreditation focus.  Debate was lively, as it was last year when these two critiqued the Grand Challenges for Engineering, the effort by the National Academy of Engineering to turn our focus to the global problems engineering might be able to solve.  Hot and spicy!