External Assessment of Engineering Programs

Abstract

This paper reports on an Industry Focus Group Forum, which was held 20 October 2011. The purpose of the forum was to obtain local Industry’s perception and opinions of the strengths and weaknesses of new engineering graduates from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba at the time they enter the work force. Key strengths of best-in-class engineering employees were identified, such as attitude, knowledge base, creativity, communication, and initiative. While these were the attributes of best-in-class employees, they represented goals to which new graduates should aspire. The industry members also identified weaknesses of new engineering graduates, such as life-long learning, practical aspects, engineering tools, and communication. The strengths and weaknesses were mapped to Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board attributes for validation. The secondary purpose of the forum was to establish a process by which the Faculty can assess their graduates at the time they enter the workforce. The process involved external opinions of the quality of the Faculty’s new graduates.