Boeing

A team of engineering professors from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D., has been selected to receive the prestigious 2000 Boeing Outstanding Educator Award. As the winner, the team members and university will share a $50,000 award.

The Boeing Outstanding Educator Award recognizes educators who have made exceptional contributions to improving undergraduate engineering education.

"These educators are ensuring universities are constantly adapting to the fast-paced changes taking place in the engineering field, while helping students be prepared for those challenges," said Dave Swain, Boeing senior vice president of Engineering and Technology. "Engineering programs like that at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology are developing the ideal employees that Boeing and technical companies throughout the country are seeking."

Competing individuals or teams are graded on improvements they have made to the educational process that enhance attributes of graduating engineering students. Each individual or team has to provide evidence that their work has long-term, pervasive impact on engineering education. They also must demonstrate the extent to which educational improvements have become institutionalized.

The South Dakota team was recognized for creating the Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production, known as CAMP. Members of the team are professors Dan Dolan, Mike Batchelder and Srinivasa Iyer.

Now in its fourth year, the program's objective is to improve engineering education through team-based multidisciplinary projects. Students conduct research and form enterprise teams that many times help private companies solve design and manufacturing challenges. Approximately 200 students directly participate in the teams and 400 students are indirectly affected by their work because many projects are connected with courses.

Team projects have led to cooperative efforts with Western Dakota Technical Institute, regional industry and governmental agencies. Teams also participate in national engineering competitions and visit schools and museums to talk about the engineering field.

"We are extremely proud of the innovative faculty who designed the CAMP program and the outstanding students who have participated in it," said Dr. Richard Gowen, president of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. "We are delighted to receive national recognition for the achievements of CAMP. These achievements were generated in part from the challenges posed by and the support given by Governor Janklow, the South Dakota Board of Regents and our industrial advisory boards. It is a tremendous honor for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to be included in the company of many of the country's most prestigious engineering and science universities."

Nationally, individuals and teams from 15 schools were nominated for the 2000 Boeing Outstanding Educator Award. The field was narrowed to three finalists, with each visited by the judging team from Boeing for an in-depth examination of the work of each nominated team. Besides South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the other finalists were teams from Brigham Young University and Purdue University.

Of the $50,000 total award, $5,000 will be awarded to the winning team and $20,000 will be given as an unrestricted grant to the CAMP to further its programs. An additional $25,000 grant will be made to the engineering school for ongoing support of educational improvement.

This is the sixth year Boeing has granted the Outstanding Educator Award. The 1999 recipient was a team of educators from Northern Arizona University; the 1998 recipient was a team of educators from Penn State University; the 1997 recipient was Dr. Robert Quinn of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa.; the 1996 recipient was a team of educators from the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.; and the 1995 award went to a team from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

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