SUMMARY MINUTES

International Steering Committee (ISC) Meeting
International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE)
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, New Jersey, USA

February 2, 2000

Attendees: W. Aung (USA), S. Fenster (USA), A. Krizakova (Czech Republic), S.T. Mau (USA), V. Roubicek (Czech Republic), V. Schutz (USA), C.H. Wei (Taiwan).

The ISC meeting was chaired by V. Schutz. He opened at 9:00 AM and thanked S. Fenster, President of NJIT, and S.T. Mau, Dean of the College of Engineering at NJIT, for hosting the meeting and for their hospitality. Discussion and actions taken are as follows:

1. Minutes of previous meeting

  1. The minutes for the 12/1/99 meeting, with minor updates, were approved and adopted.

2. ICEE - General

  1. The write-up for the ICEE Concept is being updated based on feedback from members. The updated version will be circulated.
  2. A proposal from L. Scavarda was presented and discussed. The proposal deals with the formation of a ICEE society or network in order to provide continuity and consistency of support for ICEE, and to take an additional step forward in enabling international cooperation. After discussion, the formation of a network, to be called tentatively, Network for International Education, Research and Technology (NIERT) was adopted. Win Aung was assigned to investigate options or models for implementation, including siting for "headquarters", funding, and design of a web site+.

3. ICEE-2001

  1. The Steering Committee members proposed by Trond Clausen are agreed to.

4. ICEE-2000

  1. Dr. Wei indicated that the deadline for abstracts has been extended to 3/15/2000.
  2. As of 2/2/2000, a total of 27 abstracts had been received (The total number of abstracts on 3/1/2000 stands at 234 from 25 countries. For a listing, please see: http://icee2000.nctu.edu.tw/asubmit/list3.asp).
  3. V. Roubicek indicated that about 30 attendees are expected from the Czech Republic.
  4. W. Aung said that he expected approximately 50 attendees from the U.S. He also mentioned that the U.S. National Science Foundation is planning to provide travel support for about 25 participants.
  5. The ISC encouraged C.H. Wei and his committees to consider organizing sessions involving high level industry representatives discussing engineering entrenpreneurship. In addition, special sessions dealing with information technology, biotechnology, etc., are also desired.

5. International Workshop

  1. An ICEE tradition that sets it apart from other international conferences, the ICEE-2000 International Workshop is aimed at developing partnerships for further progress. It will be held toward the end of the conference in the southern city of Tainan, the cultural center of Taiwan. It was suggested that a team of coordinators from various participating countries or regions should identified and given the responsibility of jointly developing the workshop program, and co-authoring a report summarizing recommendations for future cooperation.
  2. The starting point of the workshop program will be the most recently available report for a past workshop, namely, the one for ICEE-1998.
  3. The following coordinators were nominated: T. Clausen (Norway); P. Hicks (UK); V. Rao (USA); Jhing-Fa Wang (Taiwan); V. Roubicek (Czech Republic); and L. Scavarda (Brazil). Others will be identified and included in the team.

6. Conference Exhibits/Booths

  1. It was agreed that the conference will feature booths for the display and/or demonstration of educational materials, such as software, books and instructional equipment. Wang Wei-Chung will be the coordinator for the exhibits program.

7. New ISC Members

  1. The ISC voted to induct the following new members to the ISC:
    Melezinek, President of IGIP, Vienna, Austria: to be contacted.
    S. Fenster, President, NJIT: contacted and accepted.

8. V. Schutz adjourned the meeting at 12 Noon.

+ Please comment on the following preliminary idea:

Based on a resolution promulgated at its meeting on February 2, 2000, the International Steering Committee of the International Conference on Engineering Education (ICEE) is exploring the feasibility of establishing an organization to be known (tentatively) as the NETWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY (NIERT). The goal of NIERT is to enhance the concept of ICEE, and promote further progress in education and research through international partnerships and information exchange.

NIERT implements its goal by: (a) co-sponsoring and facilitating the organization of high quality ICEEs; (b) initiating other international forums, specialist workshops and conferences at selected sites as needed; (c) developing new mechanisms and programs that promote international cooperation; (d) developing and maintaining a directory and depository of information for international cooperation in research and education; and (e) assembling and disseminating updated information on related topics.

Funding for NIERT is derived from industrial, academic and government sponsors. An NIERT website will be developed.

The website will: (1) have a web page showing the rationale and concept for NIERT; (2) have a web page showing the concept and rationale for ICEE; (3) provide information on upcoming development, programs and events, such as major program announcements, international conferences and workshops, and progress on projects of a collaborative nature; (4) provide links to other relevant sites, such as ICEE-1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 etc.; (5) develop and update a directory and depository of information on international collaboration, in which researchers engaged in collaborative activities, or are interested in developing new collaborative projects, may submit and display summaries of their activities and provide names addresses of contact persons; and (6) contain other features that may be added from time to time.

NIERT activities will be conducted and coordinated through the its General Secretariat and regional affiliate offices. The locations for these are being explored.

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