The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

member association, founded in 1893, dedicated to promoting and improving

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and

engineering technology An engineering technologist is a professional trained in certain aspects of development and implementation of a respective area of technology. Engineering technology education is even more applied and less theoretical than engineering educatio ...

education. The purpose of ASEE is the advancement of education in all of its functions which pertain to engineering and allied branches of science and technology, including the processes of teaching and learning, counseling, research, extension services and public relations. ASEE administers the engineering technology

honor society In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...

Tau Alpha Pi.

History

A full reading of the history of ASEE can be found in a 1993 centennial article in the Journal of Engineering Education. Founded initially as the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education (SPEE) in 1893, the society was created at a time of great growth in American higher education. In 1862, Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which provided money for states to establish public institutions of higher education. These institutions focused on providing practical skills, especially "for the benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts". As a result of increasingly available higher education, more Americans started entering the workforce with advanced training in applied fields of knowledge. However, they often lacked grounding in the science and engineering principles underlying this practical knowledge. After a generation of students had passed through these new public universities, professors of engineering began to question whether they should adopt a more rigorous approach to teaching the fundamentals of their field. Ultimately, they concluded that engineering curricula should stress fundamental scientific and mathematical principles, not hands-on apprenticeship experiences. To organize support for this approach to engineering education, SPEE was formed in the midst of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Known as the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, h ...

, this event heralded the promise of science and engineering by introducing many Americans, for example, to the wonders of electricity. Emerging out of the Fair’s World Engineering Congress, SPEE members dedicated themselves to improving engineering education at the classroom level. Over its history, the society has put out several reports on the subject, such as the Mann Report (1907), the Wickenden Study (1920s), and the Grinter Report (1955). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the federal government started to place more emphasis on research, prompting SPEE to form the Engineering College Research Association (ECRA), which was more concerned with research than SPEE had ever been. The ECRA spoke for most engineering researchers, sought federal funds, and collected and published information on academic engineering research. Colonel and University Dean Blake R. Van Leer was the chairman and oversaw several committees during this process. After the war, the desire to integrate the less research-oriented SPEE with the ECRA resulted in the disbanding of SPEE and the formation of ASEE in 1946. ASEE was a volunteer-run organization through the 1950s. In 1961, ASEE established a staff headquarters in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and undertook a more activist posture. However, through the 1960s, the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and social unrest, in general, made the mood on many campuses anti-technology, anti-business, and anti-establishment. In the 1960s and 1970s, ASEE presidents Merritt Williams and George Hawkins reorganized ASEE to better represent its members and return its focus to teaching. As a result of this new focus, ASEE began to administer several teaching-related government contracts, including NASA's summer faculty fellowships and the Defense Department's Civil Defense Summer Institutes and Fellowships. Currently, ASEE administers over ten government contracts, including the prestigious

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

's Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Another result of the renewed emphasis on teaching was ASEE’s initiative for recruiting minorities and women into engineering. ASEE created the Black Engineering College Development program which used industry funding to upgrade engineering faculty in traditionally black colleges and to develop public information on these schools. ASEE also received several grants in the 1970s to research the status of women and American Indians and develop programs to attract more of these students to enter engineering. Since then, ASEE has continued to release studies on the subject in its Journal of Engineering Education, and has created divisions specifically devoted to developing programs and research in this area.

Publications

ASEE produces many publications on the topic of engineering education, including the general-interest ''Prism'', a monthly magazine covering the pervasive role of engineering in the world, the journals '' Journal of Engineering Education'' and ''Advances in Engineering Education,''

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...

journals covering research in engineering education, ''

Profiles of Engineering and Technology Colleges Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * Profile (Jan Akkerman album), ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * Profile (Githead album), ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * Profile (Pat Donohue album), ''Profile'' ...

'', providing data on engineering colleges and universities, and the ''eGFI: Engineering, Go For It!'' magazine and associated website, designed to attract high school students and their parents and teachers to engineering.

''Prism''

The magazine reports about cutting-edge technology and other important trends in engineering education, including: * New instructional methods * Innovative curricula * Lifelong learning * Research opportunities, trends, and developments * Education and research projects with government and industry K-12 outreach activities that encourage youth to pursue studies and careers in engineering.

''Journal of Engineering Education''

The ''Journal of Engineering Education'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly in partnership with a global community of engineering education societies and associations. The journal is a founding member of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies.

''Advances in Engineering Education''

''Advances in Engineering Education'' covers engineering education practice, especially the creative use of multimedia.

''Profiles of Engineering and Engineering Technology Colleges''

This directory provides profiles of United States and Canadian schools offering undergraduate and graduate engineering, as well as engineering technology programs with the intent of preparing prospective students for their future education in engineering.

''Computers in Education''

''Computers in Education'' () is an

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

covering all aspects of computation in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

. It is published by the Northeast Consortium for Engineering Education on behalf of the Computers in Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Presidents since 2000

* 2000-2001 -

Wallace T. Fowler Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name Wa ...

* 2001-2002 - Gerald S. Jakubowski * 2002-2003 -

Eugene M. DeLoatch Eugene M. DeLoatch (born 1936) in Piermont, New York, is an American academic in engineering education. DeLoatch's career has sought to expose historically marginalized communities to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). ...

* 2003-2004 -

Duane L. Abata Duane may refer to: * Duane (given name) * Duane (surname) * Duane, New York, a US town * the title character of '' Duane Hopwood'', a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival * Duane Adelier, a main character of '' Unsounded'', a 2012 f ...

* 2004-2005 -

Sherra E. Kerns Sherra E. Kerns (née Horan) is an American engineer and academic administrator who is the F.W. Olin Distinguished Professor Emerita of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the founding vice president for innovation and research at Olin College ...

* 2005-2006 - Ronald Barr * 2006-2007 - David Wormley * 2007-2008 - Jim Melsa * 2008-2009 - Sarah Rajala * 2009-2010 -

J.P. Moshen JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * '' Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Par ...

* 2010-2011 - Renata Engel * 2011-2012 - Don Giddens * 2012-2013 - Walter Buchanan * 2013-2014 -

Kenneth Galloway Kenneth F. Galloway, Sr. is an American engineer and engineering educator. He is a Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, and Dean of the School of Engineering, Emeritus, at Vanderbilt University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electr ...

* 2014-2015 -

Nicholas Altiero Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

* 2015-2016 - Joe Rencis * 2016-2017 - Louis Martin-Vega * 2017-2018 - Bevlee Watford * 2018-2019 -

Stephanie Farrell Stephanie H. Farrell (born 1964) is an American chemical engineer and academic administrator who is the founding department head of experimental engineering education at the Rowan University. She was the interim dean of the Henry M. Rowan College o ...

* 2019-2020 - Stephanie Adams

Awards

ASEE annually recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of engineering and engineering technology educators through the ASEE awards program. By their commitment to their profession, desire to further the Society's mission, and participation in civic and community affairs, ASEE award winners exemplify the best in engineering and engineering technology education.

Current awards

Former awards

* George Westinghouse Award (1946-1999)

Conferences

ASEE and its members organize a number of conferences, meetings, and workshops, foremost among them the ASEE Annual Conference. Other events include regional member meetings, professional-interest focused conferences, and K-12 teacher training.ASEE Conferences
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Fellowships

ASEE administers a number of fellowship and research opportunities with funding provided by federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DOD),

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

, and the

(NSF). These range from programs that provide summer internships for high school students to research programs for faculty members during the summer or while on sabbatical. Programs include undergraduate and graduate research support and postdoctoral research programs for recent PhDs at government and industrial research facilities. ASEE provides support tasks that include outreach and promotion activities, application processing support, application review activities, and administration of stipend and tuition payments for program participants.

References

External links

*
Triangle Coalition Membership
{{Authority control Engineering organizations 1893 establishments in Washington, D.C.