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| The Accreditation Board
of Engineering and Technology (ABET) has created and adopted new accreditation
standards that respond to the need for reform of engineering education
( ABET 2000), which will be in effect in the year 2000. The new standards
are focused on student learning outcomes and educational objectives that
address all constituencies’ needs, while calling for accountability and
continuous program assessment and process re-engineering.
The Manufacturing Engineering Education Partnership (MEEP) , a multi-institution partnership (UPR-Mayagüez, Penn State and University of Washington) has developed an undergraduate manufacturing engineering option which addresses critical issues of the new ABET 2000 criteria, specifically criteria 2 and 3. The result of this project is the Learning Factory, an outcomes-based undergraduate manufacturing engineering curriculum integrated to laboratory facilities and industry collaboration. The uniqueness of this program is that it is driven by the needs of industry and other stakeholders and that the curriculum developed is practice-based, therefore providing students with an educational experience based on manufacturing and business realities. This program addresses constituencies’ needs, develops student “soft” skills, and provides program outcomes assessment. Workshop attendees will have an opportunity to learn about both about the process and the products of the Learning Factory, specifically:
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