2006 International Mechanical Engineering Education Conference in Beijing

For the first time, ASME will join with the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society hold the annual International Mechanical Engineering Education Conference outside the United States.

The conference, which was designed to cultivate international collaboration between university mechanical engineering programs, will take place from March 31–April 4, 2006, at the Friendship Hotel in Beijing, China. "Mechanical Engineering Education and Global Industry" will be the theme of the 2006 meeting.

China was selected as host country for the meeting because of the global implications of the country's fast-growing economy and university system. More than half of the university students in China are majoring in either math or engineering, according to Tom Perry, director, ASME Education and Professional Development. Nearly 250,000 of those students are studying mechanical engineering.

Each year, the International Mechanical Education Engineering Conference examines the educational and research opportunities and their implications throughout the world, and promotes cooperative ventures and the exchange of information among mechanical engineering departments and faculties globally. The meeting also affords faculty members networking opportunities and information to assist with collaborations between universities.

Perry said that the meeting's target audience is mechanical engineering department heads and faculty leaders. More than 300 are expected from throughout the world, he said.

The conference program will include a number of plenary sessions, including "Engineering 2020: Global Perspective, Innovation and International Collaboration in Graduate Education and Research," "Undergraduate Education and International Collaboration," "Accreditation Practices Around the Globe," and "Global Industry/University Partnerships."

The technical program also will feature a significant amount of facilitated and open discussion, as well as networking time, Perry added.

In order to foster international collaboration between ME departments, the event will feature an International Partnership Program (IPP) to help bring together institutions that are interested in collaborating on specific research, curriculum, student and faculty exchange, and other projects. Time will be allotted during the conference for the matched institutions to get together to discuss proposed projects.

Hongbin Ren, president of China National Machinery and Equipment Corp., and John C. Wall, vice president and chief technical officer of Cummins Inc., are the honorary chairs of the 2006 Education Conference. Dongming Guo, vice president of Dalian University of Technology in China, and Dan Hirleman, chair of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, will be the conference's general chairs.

A tour of Beijing is scheduled for all attendees on the Sunday of the conference, and optional post-conference tours will offer conference-goers remaining in China the opportunity to see more of Beijing or travel to Xian and Shanghai.

For more information on the 2006 Mechanical Engineering Education Conference, visit the conference Web site, at www.asme.org/education, or contact Amy Bentow, manager, ASME Education, (212) 591-7880, fax (212) 591-7143, e-mail bentowa@asme.org.

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