Event
Revitalizing Engineering Education: A Research-Driven Approach, Dr. Norman Fortenberry
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
1:30 p.m.
Pepco Room (1105), Kim Building
Ted Knight
teknight@umd.edu
Tuesday, Oct 7, 1:30 PM Pepco Room (1105), Kim Building
Speaker: Dr. Norman Fortenberry
Director of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education at the
National Academy of Engineering.
TITLE: Revitalizing Engineering Education: A Research-Driven Approach
This talk briefly provides an overview of the forces driving improvement in engineering education and discusses efforts to continuously improve the quality of engineering education being through research and an innovation within the domain of engineering education. As a means of reducing the gap between those attributes currently possessed by engineering graduates and those characteristics sought by various stakeholder communities (including students), the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE) of the US National Academy of Engineering seeks (a) to build capacity for the conduct, evaluation, communication, and use of engineering education research, (b) to build community among and between engineering education researchers and engineering education practitioners, (c) to advance knowledge about the various elements of systems of engineering education, and t(d) o translate knowledge into improved practice in formal and lifelong education.
NORMAN L. FORTENBERRY, Sc.D.
Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry is the founding Director of the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE) at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). CASEE represents an effort, collaborative across stakeholder communities, to improve the alignment of the knowledge and skills possessed by future and current engineers and the knowledge and skills sought within engineers by various stakeholders of engineering education. This effort is pursued through research on, as well as development and deployment of, innovative policies, practices, and tools designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of systems for the formal (spanning all age and grade levels), informal, and lifelong education of engineers.
Prior to joining NAE in October, 2002, Dr. Fortenberry held managerial positions within the National Science Foundations (NSFs) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) including Senior Advisor and Division Director. In these positions, he was responsible for managing more than 40 professional and administrative staff members as well as program budgets in excess of $300 million. Dr. Fortenberrys programmatic responsibilities included undergraduate education as well as broadening access and participation in science and engineering at all levels by underrepresented populations and institutions. He coordinated the Directorates program planning and evaluation, providing a central focal point for the formulation of the Directorates goals, objectives and priorities and integrating the scientific and technical priorities into effective policies, strategies, programs and budgets. Dr. Fortenberry was also responsible for identifying, seeking out, and engaging other parts of the NSF as well as other federal, state, non-profit, and private entities with the capacity to contribute to the attainment of EHRs goals, objectives, and priorities.
Prior to joining the NSF as Division Director in November, 1996, Dr. Fortenberry served as Executive Director of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (The GEM Consortium) after serving as Associate Program Director, Program Director, and Staff Associate at the NSF from 1992 to 1995. Before joining the NSF staff in September, 1992, Dr. Fortenberry was Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Director of Minority Engineering Programs at Florida A&M University/Florida State University College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. At FAMU/FSU, he had sponsored research programs in the area of design theory and methodology
Dr. Fortenberry was awarded the S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. degrees (all in mechanical engineering) by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His specialization was Applied Mechanics and Design.
