BlackboardSecond Annual Industry Day Held April 11st-12th
The College held its second Industry Day on April 11st and 12th. This annual event is designed to promote partnerships between the College and industrial corporations by attracting projects which give real-world experience to our students and at the same time allow industry to take advantage of the specialized knowledge and facilities of the College.
Industry Day 1997 was attended by representatives of over thirty engineering and manufacturing companies nationwide. A reception and dinner at the Turnbull Conference Center opened the event on Friday evening, which featured a musical program by College faculty members, Professors Lienau, Dzurik and Foreman. The Saturday morning program was opened by welcoming remarks by Dr. Susan Allen, FSU Vice President for Research, followed by a brief state-of-the-college report by Dean Chen. The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Marshall Lih, Division Director for Engineering Education at the National Science Foundation. His address, "Educating Engineers for the Board Rooms and Executive Suites of America", detailed NRC's efforts to develop teamwork between colleges and industry in the formation of Engineering Research Centers which provide a critical mass of disciplines and create a new culture to integrate them into the engineering environment. The development of a new generation of "holistic engineers" who understand both the scientific and practical aspects of their problems, have the capacity to formulate opportunities and not just solve problems, is necessary to compete in the global environment.
The morning session concluded with reports of several ongoing College-Industry partnership projects, in which students, their faculty advisors and industry mentors participated. These presentations focused on the way in which the projects were established, the responsibilities of each participant, and the benefits accruing to both the student and the industrial partner. A luncheon followed at which Prof. Norman Thagard, retired astronaut and Director of College Relations, detailed the plans for a Challenger Center for Science Education to be built as part of a future Phase III building at the College. The meeting then moved to the College where each department showcased some of its ongoing work to the industrial visitors and explored the potential for future projects and partnerships.
