Engineering's Average Faculty Salaries for Selected Fields: 2013-2014

ASEE collected salary data from 189 public and private engineering institutions for the 2013-2014 academic year. The top 10 average salaries for tenured/tenure-track faculty by department are presented here. The salaries are based on a 9-month equivalent. They do not include administrative supplements.

SENATE HEARING AIMS A SPOTLIGHT ON BUDGET CUTS THREAT

During a recent Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on R&D and the "innovation deficit," chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) asked heads of agencies if they would prefer more money right away or the stability that would come from an end to sequestration. The question is important, because sequestration, unless canceled, will return again in fiscal 2016. NSF Director France Cordova was inclined to take more money now; Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, and DARPA chief Arati Prabhakar, opted reluctantly to go with what Collins called a "stable, predictable trajectory." The hearing, called by Mikulski to spotlight the threat to U.S. competitiveness and loss of technical talent from recent budget cuts, drew scores of prepared statements from universities and associations, and strong support for research from ranking Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz brought a prop — a 3D-printed model of an artificial hand, holding what resembled a baseball.

FUNDING FOR NSF AND NASA UP SLIGHTLY IN HOUSE PANEL BILL

The Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations subcommittee bill provides $7.4 billion for the National Science Foundation, up $237 million from the current (FY 2014) enacted level. "This funding is targeted to programs that foster innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness, including funding for research on advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, neuroscience and STEM education," a committee statement says. NASA, at $17.9 billion, would get a smaller $250 million above the current level. Increases would come in exploration ($4.2 billion); science programs ($5.2 billion) and aeronautics ($666 million). Priorities are the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System; planetary science; airspace safety, and increased competitiveness for the aviation industry. The National Institute of Standards and Technology ($856 million, or $5.8 million above FY '14). NIST's core research activities would "advance U.S. competitiveness, innovation, and economic growth, and improve cyber security." The Manufacturing Extension Partnership gets $130 million.

NEED A QUICK CHEMICAL ANALYSIS? THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT

Anyone who has watched some of the current crop of cop shows knows what a spectrometer is. Basically, it can detect the chemical makeup of an object. It shines an infrared light on an object, and the light that reflects back to the scanner can figure out the molecular composition of the object based on how much of the light it absorbed. Now an Israeli startup, Consumer Physics, wants to give us the option of having a spectrometer in our pocket at a cost of around $149. Why would you want one? Well, it could be used to detect spoilage in foods, or let you know how many calories, carbs and proteins are in that plate of pasta carbonara you're about to consume. Consumer Physic's current prototype for the Scio, as it's called, is not quite small enough to fit in one hand. But it's aiming at a final version that would be palm-sized. It raised $400,000 on Kickstarter, the crowd-funding site, in a mere 48 hours last month to help it bring Scio to market. The Scio's apps take data from the reflected light and compares them to a cloud-based database. Once it gets a match, it sends the chemical analysis to a user's smartphone, which is linked to the device via Bluetooth. Eventually, the company tells Time.com, it hopes to market spectrometer apps that can be installed directly into smartphones.

NEED A MICROSCOPE? THERE'S AN ATTACHMENT FOR THAT

After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington last year, Thomas Larson was living at home and job-hunting. But while still a student, Larson took on a challenge from one of his profs to develop a miniature lens that could turn a smartphone into a microscope. The lens he came up with can magnify an object by 15 times. So Larson opted to interrup his job search and began a campaign on Kickstarter, the crowd-funding site, to raise funds to commercialize his lens. Eventually, nearly 5,100 investors signed up, giving him $91,524 to work with. And he was soon shipping orders around the world via his startup company, Micro Phone Lens. There are other products that can adapt a smartphone into a microscope, but they're much more costly than Larson's, which retails for $14.99. They also tend to be heavy and use permanent adhesives. The Larson lens is made from a soft, pliable plastic -- a platinum catalyzed silicone technology -- that can easily be stuck to a phone's -- or iPad's -- camera lens and peeled off when it's not in use. For light, all it needs is an external source, a desk lamp, for instance. Larson is now working on a lens that will magnify an object up to 150 times. A cheap microscope could be a boon in developing countries. So Larson is also working with a global health doctor to field test the lens at a clinic in Kenya.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS -- AND THAT'S A PROBLEM FOR EDUCATORS

When it comes to doing better in school, girls begin with a stark advantage over boys that grows larger over time. According to the New York Times, a new study by Washington think tank Third Way found that as kids enter kindergarten, girls are largely better behaved than boys, and show more sensitivity, persistence, flexibility and independence than do their male peers. And that gap gets wider as they grow older, which affects grades. By 8th grade, 48 percent of girls get As and Bs, but only 31 percent of boys do, the paper reports. As the U.S. economy increasingly needs a workforce that relies more on brains than brawn, the education gap between boys and girls does not bode well for men. Researchers, however, are not sure what causes the "boy crisis." One issue may be single-parent homes. While girls raised by a single parent, usually a mother, do nearly as well as girls raised in two-parent homes, the Times says, boys who grow up with just one parent often are not strong academic performers. Our schools are probably to blame, as well. But again, a ready solution isn't obvious, either, it says. Because boys who attend top-performing schools on a whole do much better than boys overall, some researchers say the problem might be solved just by making schools better. But other researchers, the paper notes, say schools need to take into account that boys are, well, different. They shouldn't be expected to sit still for long stretches, and they need more male teachers — role models — at an early age.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION STAGES A COMEBACK

A recent Georgetown University study determined that by 2020, fully two-thirds of American jobs will require applicants to have some sort of post-secondary education. But, it stresses, that hardly means that everyone will soon need or should have a four-year college degree. For many, if not most, students, the further-education requirement can be met by taking one of several other routes, including apprenticeships, trade schools, training programs, and community colleges, according to a recent U.S. News & World Report article. The U.S. News story focuses on the growing number of vocational education high schools, or tech schools, sprouting in the U.S. Historically, voc-ed schools were dumping grounds for troublemakers and low-achievers. The current crop of schools work on the premise that a four-year university degree is not the best choice for many students, but that they can still carve out useful, good-paying careers if they're taught valuable skills. The article notes that Germany and some other European countries have had a two-tiered approach to education that works very well. Students in their early teens are tested and the results determine which ones end up in apprenticeship programs and which ones are placed on a university track. Youth joblessness is lower in these countries, and the voc-ed track doesn't stop a student from later applying to go to a university.

Webinar: How Can Symbolics Help Engage Students and Enrich Controls Curriculum

In this webinar, learn new techniques for using symbolic computation to engage students, enriching their understanding of systems and enhancing the way control design is taught. Different aspects of controls, including multidomain plant modeling, linearization, design and controller testing with hardware will be demonstrated.

To register, go to www.maplesoft.com/asee

Meet Dr. Liping Liu, SAE Member and recipient of the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award.

Dr. Liu is a professor at Lawrence Technological University's (LTU) College of Engineering, as well as a faculty advisor for their SAE Collegiate Chapter. We spoke to Liping to find out what she values most about her SAE Membership, how her recent award win has helped enhance her career, and why she thinks it is important to recognize others for their achievements in the mobility engineering industry.

"Being a member of SAE International has tremendously advanced my career. It not only gets me exposed to the latest technologies in the automotive industry, but it also provides a perfect platform for networking with other researchers and engineers all over the world."

Dr. Liu was recently presented with the Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, which recognizes her for her excellence in educating engineering students and providing them with the tools they need to succeed in their future careers. Winning this award has impacted Liu's already successful career in several ways. "This award certainly enhances my network and opens a lot more opportunities for me to work with SAE faculties from other universities and practicing engineers from industry. I believe this initiative will lead to long-time interaction, and I hope to develop collaborations with them to enhance the education of our students at LTU."

Liping was nominated for her outstanding skills as a professor by her colleagues. When asked how she felt about the support she received and the importance of acknowledging others for their industry achievements, Liping responded, "I am very thankful to my colleagues for nominating me for this award. It's a huge encouragement to me and increased my motivation to work hard and succeed."

For more information about SAE Awards, visit awards.sae.org.

Job–hunting? Here are a few current openings:

1. Civil Engineering -- 1 opportunity

2. 2. Industrial Tech -- 2 opportunities

3. Mechanical Engineering Tech -- 1 opportunity

Visit here for details:

http://www.asee.org/sales-and-marketing/advertising/classified-advertising/job-postings

June 15 - 18, 2014
Indianapolis, Indiana

Conference Overview:

The ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition is the only conference dedicated to all disciplines of engineering education. It is committed to fostering the exchange of ideas, enhancing teaching methods and curriculum, and providing prime networking opportunities for engineering and technology education stakeholders such as deans, faculty members and industry and government representatives.

The ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition hosts over 400 technical sessions, with peer-reviewed papers spanning all disciplines of engineering education. Attendees include deans, faculty and researchers, students, retirees, industry representatives, K-12 teachers and more. Distinguished lectures are held on Wednesday, and there are two Main Plenaries, one that features the Conference Best Papers. There are also a variety of division award receptions and banquets.

Highlights include the "Greet the Stars" orientation for new ASEE members and first-time conference attendees, the ASEE Division Mixer, and the "Focus on Exhibits" Welcome Reception, Brunch, Lemonade Social and Closing Lunch. The 2014 conference will be in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium Center (ICCLOS) and the JW Marriott Indianapolis. We look forward to welcoming you there.