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INNOVATIONS IN HEAT TRANSFER EDUCATION AND STUDENT HEAT TRANSFER DESIGN: VOLUME 6 (HTD 344) Published 1997, ASME

Heat Transfer Education:



Background
1963 What Should be the Modern Trends in Heat Transfer Education? (WAM in Philadelphia) Concluded, among other things, that: "Students should be exposed to real-world problems and learn how to tackle them."

1995 Heat Transfer Education Committee established to: Identify and document issues in education that are important to the heat transfer community and to promote change that will strengthen the interface between education, research, and practice.

1996 Panel Session on "Heat transfer Education: Keeping it Relevant and Vibrant" Chaired by James R. Mondt and Ali Khounsary (IMECE, Atlanta)

1998 Present paper, an expanded and written version of the above panel session

Motivation

How to make heat transfer education

Heat transfer courses taken by students vary
Increasing demand for engineers with interdisciplinary skills
Heat transfer rarely practiced as taught in the classroom
New engineers have little feel for product design and manufacturing costs
Elaborate mathematics tend to obscure -rather than clarify
Graduates are untrained in effective team dynamics
Graduates specialized in heat transfer not always prepared to tackle real engineering problems, and thus are unable to fully participate in product design phases

Courses to cover issues of practical importance
Materials and materials properties
Conceive solutions
Analysis (thermal, structural, etc.)
Design
Assembly
System-wide view
Cost
Fabrication
Fatigue corrosion, etc.
Quality control
In summary, produce thermal (management) engineers and NOT heat transfer specialists.

Provide an appreciation for the underlying physics
Can be reduced to an order-of-magnitude analysis
Improve problem-solving abilities in students
Expose student to modern thermal management problems
Emphasize multidisciplinary aspects of problems
Instill a mastery of the fundamental &endash; by repetition!
Use open-ended problems for the student to
Describe the problem in his or her own words
Develop a schematic depiction of the problem, if possible
Write down things known and unknown
Make judicious decisions on systems, material, solution approach etc.
Attempt at an order-of-magnitude solution
Proceed with numerical solution, using commercial codes, if possible
Address design approaches economic considerations, material, corrosion, life-cycle estimates

Ask practicing engineers to give seminars on specialized topics
Provide case studies
Coach student design teams and mentor students
Provide products and equipment
Expose students to the practice of engineering in their organization
Provide financial support
Industry must recognize limitations of a four-year program, and look into professional societies for continued education and possible changes in the engineering programs.

Motivate them!
Familiarize them with books on engineering and engineers
Instill self-confidence about their ability to contribute and flourish in an industrial environment
Familiarize them with professional environment, needs, and challenges
Encourage continued communication between practicing engineers and students
Market students upon graduation

Consider accepting the challenge of changing course content
Focus on a team/interdisciplinary teaching approach
Use new techniques, approach, and tools in teaching
Use simulation/visualization tools for enhanced comprehension
Provide computer-based programs for order-of-magnitude analysis and understanding
Communicate experience and findings to other faculties, e.g., via ASME

Institute an effective and regular review program and receive feedback and suggestions for improvements in teaching methodology and materials
Invite practicing engineers to serve on departments' advisory committees
Encourage and if possible require, as a part of the quality control process, industrial participation in engineering education

Address a university-industry (engineers, industry leader) formal partnership arrangement to invite practicing engineers to participate in the development of syllabus, courses and contents, and other activities. Invitation must come from educational institutions.
Establish a quality control program in heat transfer education, in addition to the accreditation process, which is currently the norm.
Assemble industrial case studies and successful teaching practices.
Interact with ASME and other related professional societies in areas of common concern.
Provide training workshop to keep faculty and industry abreast of new development.
Provide opportunities for teachers of heat transfer to spend a sabbatical in industry or insist on industrial experience for university teachers.
Continue this dialog.

Both faculty and industry recognize some shortcomings in heat transfer education.
Attempts at solutions have been sporadic, varied, and unconnected.
Cooperation with industry, across the campus, and with practicing engineers has shown some fruit.
Heat Transfer Education Committee should address these issues and present short- and long- term plans.
Committee should also develop and provide guidelines to thermal science programs interested in instituting recommended changes in teaching method, course content, and interaction with industry and practicing engineers.
In the meantime, teaching heat transfer in the context of a thermal management education, particularly at the undergraduate level (with appropriate changes in course contents) seems reasonable.
Mastery of the fundamentals, a broad background of thermal management issues, and familiarity with industrial environment and practices are desirable.
There remains the question of how can an engineer be properly trained in four years? Should an additional year of specialized training be required? Such systems already exist in a number of countries, and a comparative study might be fruitful. ---end