Strategy Vision 2030

ASME’s Vision 2030 project (V2030), which began in 2008, analyzed the perspectives of over 1,400 engineering managers in industry, 1,100 recent mechanical engineering graduates, and ME education leaders from 80 universities. They offered assessments and recommendations on how mechanical engineers should be educated to meet the current and future demands of our transforming profession.

The main objective of the report is to help the mechanical engineering education constituency understand the depth and breadth of the challenges facing engineering educators. 

Standards for Students

Richer and more extensive practice-based engineering experience for students:

• Increase familiarity with how devices are made and work
• Increase applied engineering design-build-test experiences throughout degree program
• More exposure to engineering codes and standards
• More pervasive systems perspective

Systemically Increase:

• Student exposure to practicing engineers and their experiences
• Student design/build project experiences in the degree program

Professors of Practice

New balance of faculty research/industry practice skills in ME programs:

• Increase faculty expertise in professional practice
• Use ‘Professor of Practice’ positions to attract and retain faculty with significant industry experience in product development, manufacturing and management
• Create opportunities for faculty development related to industry practice

Diversity & Inclusion

Greater cultivation of collaborative inclusion, diversity, creativity, and innovation among students and faculty:

• Expand the kinds of problems that we are asking students to address
• Use of ‘grand challenges’ in energy, water, health, poverty
• Engage students throughout their degree program with active discovery-based learning

Student Professional Skills

Development of students’ professional and communication skills to a higher standard:

• Strengthen teamwork, communication, problem solving, interpersonal, and leadership skills
• Systematic focus on integration of such skills into curricula must approach the priority given to technical topics

Flexible Curriculum

Increased flexibility in ME programs:

• Modify Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology Mechanical Engineering Program Criteria to support more flexibility (done October 2013)
• Designate a mechanical engineering core of first-course fundamental ME discipline areas
• Create a student elective array of MME Concentration Options (mechanical & multi-disciplinary engineering)