INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS - A MODEL FOR ENGINEERING-EDUCATION IN THE 21ST-CENTURY

An approach to Industry-University Quality Partnership for engineering education is presented. A formal educational cycle of Preparation, Id entification, and Action(PIA) has been initiated as the framework for the partnership effort. This cycle establishes multi-disciplinary, mul ti-institutional teams of students and faculty to work with industrial partners on quality/process improvement projects. Preparation is a th ree-semester hour course that covers the methods and tools of Total Qu ality Management(TQM), safety, teamwork, communications, and time mana gement. Identification is a team effort by students, faculty, and indu strial partners working on-site at the industrial partner's facilities , identifying quality improvement opportunities. Action is the team ef fort by students, faculty, and partners working both on-campus and on- site, providing detailed plans to implement and evaluate quality-proce ss improvement opportunities. The PIA cycle was initiated in the Sprin g of 1993 by three Universities of the Southern University and College Coalition for engineering Education (SUCEED) and Milliken and Company as the industrial partner. The PIA cycle is an ongoing research effor t. In this paper, we provide a review of the PIA approach to Industry- University partnership Teams and share some of our experiences with th is novel approach to engineering education.