INCORPORATING INDUSTRY INCORPORATING INDUSTRY

NEEDS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMSNEEDS IN ENGINEERING PROGRAMS

Dr. Samir Al-Baiyat Dean College of Engineering Sciences andActing Dean College of Applied Engineering

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Mission:

The mission of the College of Engineering is

to educate professionals in engineering, to create and disseminate knowledge and technology,

to expand the base of engineering knowledge through original research, developing technology to serve the needs of society,

to benefit the public through service to industry, government, and the engineering profession. 

BackgroundBackground

The Colleges of Engineering Sciences and Applied Engineering were established in 1387 H (1966).

BackgroundBackground

There are six departments in the colleges . These are:

Aerospace Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Petroleum Engineering.

BackgroundBackground

Each department offers two programs

one in Engineering Science and the

other in Applied Engineering.

The colleges have 164 Professorial

rank faculty members

Current Students Enrollment (2003-2004)

AE 71

CHE 338

CE 130

EE 1071

ME 771

PETE 217

PROGRAMS ACCREDITATION

KFUPM for its Quest for Excellence opted

for independent Assessment for its programs

since its establishment.

PROGRAMS ACCREDITATION

In the early years KFUPM was associated

with a Consortium( international body from

USA universities) for its programs

assessment.

In the early nineties, the Colleges of

Engineering sought international

accreditation by Accreditation Board

for Engineering & Technology

(ABET).

Both Engineering Programs (ES &

AE) are ABET Accredited (1993 and

2002).

Currently the Electrical and

Mechanical Engineering Programs

are going for Self-Assessment.

Self Assessment

Self assessment is an assessment conducted by the institution to assess whether programs meet their educational objectives and outcomes with the purpose to improve program’s quality and enhancing students learning.

The new emphasis in assessment is shifted

from being prescriptive based to outcome-

based.

The Role of the Industry

This new emphasis can not be achieved

without the industry’s effective input and

active interaction.

Current avenues of interactionCurrent avenues of interaction

Industrial advisory committees at the level of the

college and each department

Employers’ Surveys

Alumni Surveys

Cooperative and summer programs

Capstone design projects mentors

Research projects

Short Courses

Technical Exchange Meetings and seminars

Applied Engineering Program Applied Engineering Program

Objectives are to study the followings:

present structure of AE Programs format and length of the program, procedure of placement, process of monitoring and evaluation

ObservationObservation

There are no programs offered at North American Universities entitled AE.

ES programs at KFUPM may be mapped to Engineering Programs at North American Universities.

ES programs at North American Universities are more of Research/Development type.

Observations (Cont.)Observations (Cont.)

Some programs have different format for Coop training.

SURVEYSURVEY

Participant of the Survey– KFUPM alumni– Employers of KFUPM graduates– KFUPM faculty– KFUPM senior students

ResponsesResponses

– Alumni 79

– Employers 78

– Faculty 99

– Senior students 103

Employer SurveyEmployer Survey

The intention of the Employer Survey is to

draw a clear picture about the nature of the

industrial organizations in the Kingdom,

their size, their principal functions, the

number of KFUPM graduates they are

employing, their needs and use of different

soft and hard skills.

Principal Function of Participating Principal Function of Participating Department/UnitDepartment/Unit

Power Generation and Distribution 24%

Financial Services 17%

Petrochemical and Related Industries 13%

Petroleum Production Industry 12%

Computer and Information Technology 6%

Telecommunication Industry 4%

Others 19%

Involvement of Participating OrganizationsInvolvement of Participating Organizations

Planning, Design and Coordination 15%

Production and Manufacturing Engineering 14%

Marketing 10%

Human Resources 9%

Information Technology 7%

Installation, Operation and Maintenance 7%

Others 28%

Number of University Graduates Currently Number of University Graduates Currently Working in Participating Departments/UnitsWorking in Participating Departments/Units

1-5 31%

6-10 18%

11-20 13%

21-50 24%

Over 50 14%

Skills and Knowledge Relevant to EmploymentSkills and Knowledge Relevant to Employment

Area of skills and KnowledgeStrongly Relevant or Relevant

Basic Sciences, Mathematics, Physics 73%Knowledge in the subject of the Academic Major 73%

Computer Skills 92%

Relevant Design Skills 60%

Ability to Adapt 88%

Skills and Knowledge Relevant to EmploymentSkills and Knowledge Relevant to Employment

Technical Problem Solving Skills 8%

Initiative and Perception 91%

Managerial Skills 65%

Decision Making 79%Presentation and Technical Writing Skills 83%Interpersonal and Communication Skills 91%

ObservationObservationInterpersonal and communication skills,

computer skills, and initiative and

perception are the most relevant/used

skills.

Design skills are the least relevant/used

skills.

Graduate PerformanceGraduate Performance

Area of Skills and Knowledge

KFUPM Graduates w/ Co-Op

Other Institution's Graduates

Basic Sciences, Mathematics, Physics 51% 44%

Knowledge in the subject of the Academic Major 60% 37%

Computer Skills 68% 38%

Relevant Design Skills 44% 36%

Ability to Adapt 60% 29%

Graduate PerformanceGraduate Performance

Technical Problem Solving Skills 42% 33%

Initiative and Perception 44% 32%

Managerial Skills 31% 27%

Decision Making 40% 36%Presentation and Technical Writing Skills 45% 32%Interpersonal and Communication Skills 53% 38%

Usefulness of Summer and Co-Op Employment Usefulness of Summer and Co-Op Employment to Participating Department/Unitsto Participating Department/Units

TrainingSummer Training

Co-Op Employment

Very Useful 17% 50%

Useful 32% 33%

Maybe Useful 40% 14%

Useless 8% 1%

Totally Useless 4% 0%

Employment PreferenceEmployment Preference

Training Preference

With Co-Op 63%

Without Co-Op 2%

Equally Preferable 35%

Alumni SurveyAlumni Survey

Objective:

The objective of the Alumni Survey is to draw

clear picture about the nature of the jobs

performed by KFUPM alumni and the relevance

and usefulness of the courses taught at KFUPM

to their career.

Nature of Industrial OrganizationNature of Industrial Organization

4% 5%

37%

8% 5% 9% 5% 6%

21%

0%

50%

100%

Financia

l Serv

ices

Merc

handise

Petroc

hemica

l and R

elated

Indus

tries

Teleco

mmun

icatio

n Indus

try

Educa

tion

Power Gen

eratio

n and D

istrib

ution

Building

and C

onstr

uctio

n Ind

ustry

Compute

r and i

nfor

mation

Tec

hnology

Others

54% is petrochemical and related industries

Principal Function of the Principal Function of the Department/Unit of the AlumniDepartment/Unit of the Alumni

34%

20%

2.5%10%

4% 1% 1%8%

2.5%

16%

0%

50%

100%

64% are in inst., Oper., Maint., Desi., Manu.

Alumni ParticipationAlumni Participation

0%

50%

100%

AppliedEngineering

EngineeringScience

Others

Years of Experience of Participating AlumniYears of Experience of Participating Alumni

40%

6%9%

13%11%

8%11%

0%

25%

50%

1-4 4-77-1

0

10-15

15-20

20-25

25+

Position of Participating AlumniPosition of Participating Alumni

15%

24%

8%

24%

20%

9%

0%

25%

50%

Engine

er in

Training

Engine

er

Superv

isor

Middle

Lev

el M

anag

emen

t

Top M

anag

emen

t

Others

47% Engineering

44% Management

Functions Performed by the Participating AlumniFunctions Performed by the Participating Alumni

More than 50% of the total working time of the participating alumni is spent in doing the following functions:

27% consulting, maintenance, management, planning, quality control and sales,

15% estimating

7% construction.

Relevance of Courses Taught at KFUPMRelevance of Courses Taught at KFUPM

Core Courses 50% Electives 47% Computer packages 34% Numerical methods

and statistics 44% LAB experiments 46%

Adequacy of Courses Taught at KFUPMAdequacy of Courses Taught at KFUPM

Math 91%

Physics 87%

Amount of LABs 78%

Oral communications 63%

Written communications 72%

Faculty Survey

The intention of faculty survey is solicit the

faculty opinion about their awareness of the

objectives of the Coop and Applied Engineering

program, their involvement in the Coop training

program, their views regarding the improvement

of the Applied Engineering program.

82% are aware of the Applied

Engineering objectives

74% see no difference the two programs

How to improve the Applied Engineering Program?

Make Technical Courses Application oriented

52%

Introduce new Technical Courses 13%

Reduce amount of Physics 4%

Reduce amount of Mathematics 0%

All of the above 32%

Results

92% aware of the objectives of Coop Program

82% involved in the Coop Program

63% are advisors for Coop students

59% consider 9 credit hours are HIGH

85% suggest to keep Coop training but with improvements

Satisfaction with the outcome

Presentation and Communication Skills 57%

Report Writing Skills 71%

Practical Knowledge Gained 37%

How to improve Coop training

Communication between Students and Advisor 3%Interaction between Co-Op Advisors and Workplace 31%

Appropriate Placement 11%

Availability of Training Program 6%

Awareness about Co-Op Objectives 18%

Others 30%

Student Survey

The intention of the student survey is to

solicit the opinion of the students

regarding the reasons of joining the

Coop training program, their awareness

about its objectives, the outcome and the

number of credit hours allocated.

Opinion about the CoopOpinion about the Coop

Relevance of Training with Academic Major 99%Practical or Technical Experience Gained 92%Knowledge Gained about Work Environment 92%

Communications Skills Gained 96%

Awareness of Employers about Co-Op 63%

General ObservationsGeneral Observations

Based on the results obtained from the alumni, employer, student and faculty surveys it appears that there is a real need to make a distinctive difference between the programs of Engineering Science and Applied Engineering.

ConclusionsConclusions The colleges of engineering will maintain

a world class engineering education

through effective interaction with the

industry.

The feedback from the industry in

maintaining a world class engineering

education is very vital.

The department industrial advisory

committees provide invaluable guidance and

support to the effort.

The Colleges of Engineering will

continuously solicit the feedback from the

industry through different avenues.

Thank YouThank You