Recognizing a national and regional need for a highly trained engineering technology STEM workforce with baccalaureate degrees, the Engineering Technology Scholars – IMProving Retention and Student Success (ETS-IMPRESS) project provides financial support and an ecosystem of high-impact curricular and co-curricular activities to increase the success of academically talented students. A total of 12 first-time students will be supported for four years and 36 students transferring from community colleges will be supported for two years. The goals of the project are to (1) increase the number and diversity of students pursuing degrees in engineering technology (first-generation, underrepresented students, women, and veterans); (2) add to the body of knowledge regarding best practices in Engineering Technology and promote employment; and (3) contribute to the literature on self-efficacy. The project brings together engineering technology academic programs that are offered through the School of Technology and programs in the Honors College, an inclusive and unique college designed around high-impact educational practices.
The project provides a unique opportunity to engage academically talented engineering technology students in activities designed to foster leadership, technical know-how, and employability skills for technology fields that actively recruit and employ graduates from diverse backgrounds and communities. By focusing on a broad range of students, the project will investigate the relationship between student characteristics and student success through (1) a mixed methods pre/post research design that examines differences in motivation, self-efficacy and professional skills and (2) a matched cohort comparison study of transfer students that examines participation/non-participation in engineering technology programs of study with honors’ college elective programming.
The paper will address first year project activities including the ETS-IMPRESS recruitment, and advertisement plan to recruit first-year and community college transfer students. The paper will address the student eligibility and selection process, the recruitment of the first cohort scholars, and finally the orientation program including the summer bridge undergraduate research experience.
Dr. Alaraje is currently a Professor and Chair of the Engineering Technology Department at The University of Toledo. Previously, Dr. Alaraje was a Professor and Program Chair of Electrical Engineering Technology in the School of Technology at Michigan Tech. Prior to his faculty appointment, he was employed by Lucent Technologies as a hardware design engineer, from 1997- 2002, and by vLogix as chief hardware design engineer, from 2002-2004. Dr. Alaraje’s research interests focus on processor architecture, System-on-Chip design methodology, Field-Programmable Logic Array (FPGA) architecture and design methodology, Engineering Technology Education, and hardware description language modeling. Dr. Alaraje is a 2013-2014 Fulbright scholarship recipient at Qatar University, where he taught courses on Embedded Systems. Additionally, Dr. Alaraje is a recipient of an NSF award for a digital logic design curriculum revision in collaboration with the College of Lake County in Illinois, and a NSF award in collaboration with the University of New Mexico, Drake State Technical College, and Chandler-Gilbert Community College. The award focused on expanding outreach activities to increase the awareness of potential college students about career opportunities in electronics technologies. Dr. Alaraje is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), a member of the ASEE Electrical and Computer Engineering Division, a member of the ASEE Engineering Technology Division, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and a member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Department Heads Association (ECETDHA).
Dr. Lorelle A. Meadows is the Dean of the Pavlis Honors College at Michigan Technological University. Dr. Meadows received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Oceanic Science from the University of Michigan, College of Engineering. Dr. Meadows was previously Assistant Dean of Academic Programs in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. Her primary responsibility in that role was to assure the delivery of a curriculum that addressed college-wide educational objectives to prepare students for 21st
century careers. In this role Dr. Meadows led the planning, implementation and assessment of the College of Engineering first year program and targeted curriculum development projects. This led to her development as an educational researcher and she now conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of social psychology and engineering education, with specific emphasis on the influence of gender stereotypes in student teams.
Laura Kasson Fiss, Research Assistant Professor in the Pavlis Honors College at Michigan Technological University, has received funding from NEH and NSF for projects in innovative curricula. Her work on nineteenth-century humor has appeared in Victorian Periodicals Review, The Lion and the Unicorn, The Cambridge Companion to Gilbert and Sullivan and Configurations (co-authored, in press). Co-authored pieces on higher education appear in the proceedings of First Year Engineering Experience, American Society for Engineering Education (forthcoming), and two forthcoming books on honors education.
Susan Amato-Henderson is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Chair in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences at Michigan Technological University. She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of North Dakota. Her research interests globally fall within motivation science areas, including self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and other personal factors influencing the success of students. Additional research areas include: responsible conduct of research, human values, and detection of deception.
Aleksandr Sergeyev is currently a
Professor in the Electrical Engineering
Technology program in the
School of Technology at Michigan Technological
University. Dr. Aleksandr
Sergeyev earned his bachelor degree in
Electrical Engineering at Moscow University
of Electronics and Automation in
1995. He obtained the Master degree
in Physics from Michigan Technological
University in 2004 and the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering
from Michigan Technological University in 2007.
Dr. Aleksandr Sergeyev’s research interests include high
energy laser propagation through the turbulent atmosphere,
developing advanced control algorithms for wavefront sensing
and mitigating effects of the turbulent atmosphere, digital
inline holography, digital signal processing, and laser spectroscopy. Dr. Sergeyev is a member of ASEE, IEEE, SPIE and is actively involved in promoting engineering education.
As Professor for Mechanical Engineering Technology at Michigan Technological University, Dr. Irwin teaches courses in Product Design & Development, Statics and Strength of Materials, Parametric Modeling, and Senior Design. Research interests include STEM education, where as PI for Improving Teacher Quality grants (2010 & 2013) he has developed and implemented professional development courses for K-12 science teachers to implement inquiry-based learning while utilizing computer simulations and 3D printing in their classrooms to help solve engineering problems.
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