The Boeing Company
Technical Fellow
Boeing Research & Technology
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Member at Large, Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (2008- )
Member, Accreditation Policy Council (2010- )
At ABET:
- Member, Engineering Accreditation Commission (2009- )
- Joined ABET as a volunteer: 1997
Why did you volunteer for ABET?
I asked about ABET after being interviewed by a Program Evaluator who was visiting the college where I was teaching part-time in the early 1990s. The Program Evaluator enthusiastically described the role and rewards of serving as a volunteer. I quickly recognized volunteering as an opportunity to help ensure a meaningful education experience for all students enrolled in ABET accredited programs.
In what ways do you think your participation has an impact on your profession?
My first visit as Program Evaluator was under the previous somewhat prescriptive “topics” criteria. During this same period, I had the opportunity to participate in my employer's efforts to establish a list of “desired attributes of an engineer” to support the creation of ABET's new outcomes-based Engineering Criteria 2000 that is in use today. I believe the new criteria has helped to instill valuable multi-disciplinary teamwork, ethics, environmental, and communication skills in a new generation of engineers entering the workforce at time when globalization, renewable energy, environmental disasters, finance ethics, and social media are headline issues affecting our profession.
How does your volunteer work help students?
Meeting with students is one of the more rewarding aspects of ABET service for me. Letting students know that they are viewed as a constituent by the program in which they are enrolled, and then engaging in dialog with them in that capacity, has provided a wealth of feedback that has allowed institutions to make improvements to their programs.
What are some of the qualifications that make a good ABET volunteer?
State-of-the-art technical knowledge, an appreciation for the math/science foundations of engineering, and broad interpersonal skills make for a good ABET volunteer. Someone who has a desire to bring value to all ABET stakeholders and enjoys engaging with professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds, personalities, and cultures, will likely find volunteering a very rewarding experience.
In what ways has your volunteer work for ABET been beneficial
to you, personally and/or professionally?
Participation as an ABET Team Chair and Program Evaluator, and serving on IEEE CEAA and APC, has broadened my perspective of education’s many connections to the engineering profession. I have a new appreciation for the coupled interests and roles of industry, college administration, state boards of registration, government education departments, parents and students, professional societies, government science and technology agencies, standards committees, workforce organizations, and professors. Volunteering has also provided the opportunity to engage with education systems from around the world and become familiar with regional cultures and industries that relate to my job as a research engineer.