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The State of Manufacturing Engineering Technology Education

Abstract

In response to a need identified by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ Education and Research Technical Community, a survey was conducted to assess the health of ABET- accredited manufacturing engineering technology programs in the spring of 2005 and 2007. In 2005, thirty-eight programs received the survey via email and twenty-two programs provided a response. Survey questions focused on enrollment issues, laboratories, regional manufacturing industrial base, graduate success, and student recruiting resources. Now, the survey has been updated and all programs currently listed on the ABET website have been contacted in early 2007. This paper will present the original results of the survey as well as results from the spring 2007 survey. Thus the paper helps establish overall national trends for, and, when possible, within manufacturing engineering technology programs. These results provide information regarding manufacturing engineering technology program health. Thus, inferences are drawn regarding the state of manufacturing engineering technology education across the nation.

Introduction

Several years ago, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), as a part of an internal reorganization, formed the Manufacturing Education & Research Community, recognizing that manufacturing research and education are inherently linked. The Community focused on education, excellence in academic programs and professional credentialing, all areas that address the diverse needs of manufacturing enterprises. One of the Technical Groups originally formed, as a part of the Manufacturing Education & Research Community, was the Manufacturing Technology Programs Tech Group. It was to monitor manufacturing technology programs, including ABET-accredited, NAIT-accredited, or non-accredited programs, with goals of identifying industry needs in manufacturing education, and foster communication among educational programs and other groups interested in building manufacturing strength in the United States1.

As a part of implementing this mission, the Chair of the Manufacturing Technology Programs Tech Group implemented a survey of all ABET-accredited manufacturing engineering technology programs in 2005. This effort paralleled another survey being done at the same time of the ABET-accredited manufacturing engineering programs in the US. Now, in 2007, the manufacturing engineering technology survey is being repeated, with several additional questions. These surveys were intended to provide understanding about the health of manufacturing engineering technology programs within the United States.

These programs are functioning within a complex environment—one that is a blend of both pessimism and opportunity. It is also worth noting that, within engineering education, there are more manufacturing engineering technology programs (baccalaureate) than there are manufacturing engineering programs. Thus, a large portion of the manufacturing-focused Bachelor of Science degrees granted within the US is from engineering technology programs.

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Danielson, S., & Georgeou, T. (2007, June), The State Of Manufacturing Engineering Technology Education Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2058