Running Head: Engineering Leadership

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Engineering Leadership:
The New Face of Engineering Education
America Fernandez
The University of Texas at El Paso

Author Note
This paper was prepared for Rhetoric and Composition 1301, taught by Professor Aarin
Walston.

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Abstract

Education has had many changes in the past decades due to technology advancements. In this
new technological era it is impossible to teach students, specially engineering students, the same
way they used to last century. This research paper will examine The New Face of Engineering
Education through the new degree offered by The University of Texas at El Paso called
Bachelor of Science in Engineering Leadership. This paper studies the discourse communities
within the College of Engineering, with a special focus on the cohort of this new program, it will
also compare how traditional engineering education has developed and the opinion of the
engineering faculty members and students about this shift. This examination of the Engineering
Leadership program and the College of Engineering itself will provide background information
to prospective or current students as well as for professionals and scholars interested in the
major.

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Introduction
My research paper is to address my concerns and questions about my discipline;
Engineering Leadership and its discourse community within the College of Engineering. As an
undergraduate student on a brand new degree, I need to understand the hierarchy so that I may
outdo in my major and therefore have opportunities available to me after graduation. The
purpose of this inquiry is to collect information through several methodologies, which will be
discussed in the body of the work. The evaluation and interpretation of the information gathered
will explain how a student who enters a new discourse community as an amateur can adjust
themselves closer to a position of power within the discourse community. By analyzing several
components related to a discourse community, I will prove that students who successfully
comprehend these factors facilitate their own position within their discipline and determine their
future success.
Methodologies
Several methods were used to develop a full and deep analysis on the Engineering Leadership
discipline. For example an interview with the head of the department of Engineering Leadership
who is currently working on developing the program and encouraging students who want to
pursue an engineering degree with an exciting twist. Also as a part of this research a survey was
conducted amongst current engineering students both in and out of the Engineering Leadership
program. Site observations were also a big part of the paper, a common study area for
engineering students and an engineering class were both observed and analyzed to offer an
insight of what the typical day of an engineering student looks like. The analysis of a book and
the programs promotional material are also included in the research.

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Faculty Interview
The faculty interview was held on the Center for Research in Engineering and
Technology Education in the Engineering Breezeway. Dr. Roger Gonzalez head of the
department of Engineering Leadership and a UTEP Mechanical Engineering Alumni. The
questions directed to him will serve to clarify what engineering is about and were it is going in a
future. Having broad experience on the engineering field and on engineering education, Dr.
Gonzalez is one of the most successful professors from the university. His contribution to this
paper was of great help and by allowing us to examine not only one of his classes but also his
material we could reach certain conclusions.
Surveys
The surveys conducted for this research were directed specially to engineering students
most were Juniors and some Sophomores and a Freshman. The surveys were to measure the
students comfort with the engineering environment and their contentment with the College of
Engineering in general. The questions were very varied and ranged all the way from the level of
difficulty of the major to the conditions of the facilities.
Documents Analysis
The documents analyzed were used to observe from an outside perspective how others
perceive and acknowledge the engineering degree in general and specially the Engineering
Leadership program. A book used in the Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering, the
professional brochure and the flyer used to recruit high school students of Engineering
Leadership, as well as both the College of Engineering website and the Engineering Leadership
website were used to address the inquiry.

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Site Observations
The site observations were made on two different engineering contexts. The first one was
done on the Tech Cafe, a somewhat new study area in the breezeway that connects the
Engineering Building with the Classroom Building. This area is the one of the hot spots were
engineering students and some science majors gather to study or just pass the time. The second
observation was in a Junior level class instructed by Dr. Stephen Stafford, an engineer with a
broad knowledge and experience on his field of Materials and Metallurgy Engineering.
Power and Knowledge
The Science and Engineering of Materials is a text book written by Donald R.
Askeland, Pradeep P. Fulay, and Wendell J. Wright and until now there are six editions. This
book is used on the Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering taught by Dr. Stephen
Stafford. It is a big and heavy text book, according to students it was a rather expensive,but it can
also be found online and most of them did preferred to rent or buy the ebook or download the
PDF. The first pages of the book consist of the acknowledgements, the contents, and short
biographies on each one of the authors. The first chapter of the book is an introduction to what
will be studied and its importance in daily life, it focuses on how learning the material will help
you as an engineer and it answers some of the questions you ask your self when you see
everyday objects such as what is it made of. Physically the book is very colorful, it includes a lot
of pictures, tables, and diagrams. At the end of each chapter there is a summary of the chapter,
the glossary for selected vocabulary, and practice problems. The last pages of the book include
and appendix with selected properties for metals and elements, solutions to selected problems, an
index, and The Periodic Table of Elements.

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According to the survey held with engineering students, engineering is one of the
toughest degrees to pursue. Students think they have to go they extra-mile in order for them to
succeed as professionals. As you can observe in Figure 1, most of the students who participated
on the survey think engineering is one of the toughest and most demanding programs, they also
agreed that in order for an engineering student to succeed it is necessary that they participate in
student organizations, as they offer conferences and meetings where companies who employ
engineers attend. There was a bit of a disagreement that said that the university does not offer
enough opportunities for the students to upgrade their basic skills such as internships and study
abroad opportunities.

Completely Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Completely Agree

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Question 1

Question 3

Question 5

Question 7

Figure 1

Customs and Habits

The College of Engineering website is very plain and boring. It was recently updated, but
instead of improving they deteriorated, according to work-study employee from the College of

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Engineering, the new supervisor for public relations decided it was time for a change and they
completely changed the layout of the website. It is now very basic but hard to navigate if you do
not know what you are looking for. The home page has a banner with several announcements
constantly changing, it has also a more formal announcement section and a trending on Facebook
section. The menu includes a department directory, degrees and programs, student outreach,
kindergarten to twelve grade outreach, an alumni section, and an about us section. It gives you
the option to donate money to the college and it has several links that will help you navigate to
other parts of the universitys website. According to the employee all of the engineering
departments must follow the same layout and format that the home page of the College of
Engineering has, most of them are out of date and do not seem to be updated regularly.
As well as the College of Engineering website, the Engineering Leadership website has a
consistent theme but in a friendlier manner with a more interactive home page. The website
looks modern and as if it was recently updated. The main page happens to be the only page and it
is divided into different sections which are available in the menu at the top. The website if very
user-friendly and any could easily navigate through it. It has the same banner format in the
beginning were you can see pictures of students interacting. The information on the About
section is very well written and as already mentioned it leads to the next section by just going to
the menu or if it is easier by scrolling down.
Values and Traditions
The College of Engineering is very different from the other colleges at the university due to its
longevity in the college being the oldest of the colleges at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Every year during March engineering students gather to celebrate TCM Day, also known as the

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Day of the Engineers, celebrated on the same day as St. Patricks day due to the saying that St.
Patrick was the patron saint of the engineers. During TCM the College of Engineering turns
green and celebrates for a whole day their engineers. The day usually starts with the white
washing of the M on the mountain located in Sun Bowl Drive, students spend the day
participating on different activities and finishing with the kissing of the Blarney Stone, a rock
located infant of The College of Engineering. Other of the engineering big traditions is the Order
of the Engineer Ceremony that is hosted the morning before Commencement. To recognize their
accomplishments all engineering graduating students are given an official Order of the Engineer
stainless steel ring to show their obligation to their profession.
Space
I observed a great variety of differences inside the different sections of my college and
between the College of Engineering and the library. As we discussed earlier this week in class,
some colleges have "privileges", no wonder why the the Computer Science and College of
Engineering websites never get hacked as the College of Science or the Liberal Arts websites do.
The College of Engineering is one of the oldest buildings on campus but several additions have
been made to the building and it is easy to tell which ones are new and which ones have been
like that for as long as many students and professors can remember. Recently the College of
engineering was refurnished and some reparations have been made in the skybridge that connects
the Engineering Building and the Classroom Building, including a new "convenience store" were
you can buy essential food items without having to walk all the way to the Union or other food
providers around campus. Even though the library is one of the oldest buildings on campus it
looks somehow new since it is very well taken care of and very conserved architectural wise.

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They have had some issues this past month with the Wi-Fi not working, their printers jamming
and not working and the fire alarm going off accidentally. There is somehow a consistency on the
architecture of the buildings from the outside, but it is not hard to know which ones have been
here for a long time.
Status
Dr. Roger Gonzalez, a professor and the head of the department of Engineering
Leadership shared how this program can be The New Face of Engineering Education, some of
his experiences, and his personal opinion on the program and its discourse community. Dr.
Gonzalez described his teaching style as socratic this means they focus on giving the student
questions in order to get to the answers they are looking for, he believes that his responsibility as
an engineering professor is to guide the learning and that the learning is a mutual responsibility
between the student and the professor, in the context of what the professor is asking for and what
the student is seeking to learn. His ideal engineering student is someone who can work hard and
think independently, able to process a lot of data and information and someone who likes the
practice of sciences but is also creative enough to design new things and innovate old ones.
Dr. Gonzalez decided to go into the Engineering track because he wanted to understand
how things worked and why they worked the way they did, his biggest motivation was his
academic standing during his education and the support he received from his family. He
mentioned how engineering has changed from what it was today than how it was when he was a
student. One of the biggest remarks he made was that engineering students today require to have
a broader understanding of engineering and need to be more creative than before due to the
technological advances, not only on the field but also how their products and designs impact the

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world and the business aspect of it. As a student he did not like professors who

would teach straight out of the book, but the ones who actually included extra information or a
different method. He considers an efficient professor to be the one who first and foremost
understands what effective teaching is, the one who has practice in the field they are instructing
and includes his personal experiences on their lectures.
As an engineering professor Dr. Gonzalez has contributed with an environment were he
acts only as a mentor and a guide for the students, giving them more responsibility on their own
education. Serving as the head of the department of Engineering Leadership, Dr. Gonzalez has
ample expectations for the first graduating class of the program. He expects them to not only can
do technical work but for them to be able to think on their feet, to be able to understand and
practice leadership with any group or individual and accomplish the group goals. For him it is
not only important that students understand that technical, but are able to have a
multidimensional view of the situations presented to them.

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Dr. Gonzalez believes the other engineering degree plans spend a lot of time preparing
you for the specialty you are developing in and what Engineering Leadership is doing is that it is
giving you a broader perspective on the engineering field. It seeks to develop the skills that you
will need when working on large scale projects, look at different types of businesses, and helping
individuals to use their maximum potential. E-Lead, as the members of the program call it, wants
to create a successful engineer rather than a technical one. The community that is being
developed along with the program is one of a more group thing than an individual one, faculty
want to create healthy and long-lasting relationships between the students so that in a future they
can help each other succeed and make a name for themselves as well as the program itself.
Language and Discourse
Engineering classes are very different depending on the subject you are focusing on. The
Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering course for example is very interactive,
students get the opportunity to actually interact with the materials provided by the professor
while he is lecturing on their properties and were they are used. Even though the class is from the
Engineering Department it is taught on the third floor of the Education Building by Dr. Stephen
Stafford, though their exams are administered on the Classroom Building, which is adjacent to
the Engineering Building and considered part of the College of Engineering, due to the lack of
space in the classroom were lecture is normally given. Students in the Engineering department
are ver focused and most of them take notes for the whole class. During class several discussions
were held regarding the complexity level of the tests, apparently their exams consist of two parts;
the comprehensive part, which is were all the theory is tested, for an engineering student this the
most complex part of the test, according to stereotypes engineers are great at doing things and

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keeping themselves busy with manual work, and it gives them a really hard time when they have
to sit in one place and read or learn several concepts. The second part of the exam is were they
prove that the theory they learned can also be applied, the most common thing for this types of
questions are work problems or situations were the student has to provide an explanation with
the actual proof that what is being asked is possible and what the actual results are. Apparently
students start studying for tests weeks before they are applied, the complexity level of the tests is
believed to decrease as the semester goes on given that the concepts learned in the beginning are
barely being introduced and by the end all the content is already learned and has been applied
before.
Conclusion
Engineering is not an easy degree to pursue. The program itself is very challenging and
will demand a lot from the student. As an undergraduate student in a brand new degree it is
imperative that you take the time to analyze and understand what you want to do with the rest of
your life and if you are up for all the ups and downs that are going to be presented to you on the
way. The information collected for this inquiry helped scrutinize the Engineering Leadership
degree and the College of Engineering itself and deeply manner. The evaluation and
interpretation of the different methodologies used as sources was critical for the development.
The engineering discourse community may seem as very reserved and selfish community if you
are an outsider, but once you get to be in the inside you feel welcomed and you are going to
notice immediately that not everything has to be done by yourself, but that working with others
will help you grow as an individual.

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Bibliography

Askeland, D., Fulay, P., & Wright, W. (2011). <i>The Science and Engineering of Materials: Si
Edition.</i> (6th ed., p. 921). Stamford, CT: CENGAGE Learning.
Home | College of Engineering. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://
engineering.utep.edu/
Engineering Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2014, from http://e-lead.utep.edu