The ECSEL's integrated approach to industry-academe relations

ECSEL, a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded coalition for engineering education, has developed a strong industry tie with a network of industrial partners. The involvement of these partners in the ECSEL project has been voluminous and can be summarized in three words: breadth, depth and continuity. Examples of their efforts are: providing projects for interdisciplinary integration of design; full partnership in the planning, development and implementation of courses; serving on the Industry Advisory Board; hosting tours of manufacturing plants; donation of equipment and software; offering summer co-op opportunities, etc. In short, their contributions include cash, materials, personnel time and, most importantly, their expertise in real-life product development, a task that a new engineering graduate is expected to tackle when entering industry.