About eighty heads of mechanical/multi-disciplinary engineering departments, engineering faculty deans and academics from the US, Europe, Asia, Asia-Pacific and Chinese mainland, have gathered in Hong Kong from 27 to 29 September to attend the International Leadership Summit on Mechanical/Multi-Disciplinary Education. This marked the first time Hong Kong hosted such high-level international event.
The international leadership summit is jointly organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (CMES), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Center for Education, and supported by the departments of mechanical engineering of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Hong Kong, as well as local mechanical engineering professional societies, namely the Mechanical, Marine, Naval Architecture and Chemical Division of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Hong Kong Branch.
The summit was officially opened on the 28th September at Hotel ICON, the teaching and research hotel of PolyU, by Professor Song Tianhu, Standing Vice President of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society; Professor William Wepfer, Vice President of ASME Center for Education; and Professor Timothy W. Tong, PolyU President.
According to the organizer, the summit provides a valuable platform for key industry leaders and engineering education providers to exchange their insights on educational issues across mechanical and related disciplines, through a setting of presentations, discussions and debate. Twenty-five distinguished speakers have been invited to share their views and experience in a global context.
A pre-Summit Accreditation Workshop was organized on 27 September covered an examination and discussion of the details, similarities, differences and latest practices in accreditation in the US and China. The workshop featured discussions of accreditation criteria and also the role of the engineering professional societies in accreditation, evaluator selection, training and quality assurance.
Four major themes will be discussed in the Summit plenary sessions, which include: (1) Major Strategies Shaping Mechanical Engineering Education; (2) Industry-focused Mechanical Engineering Education; (3) Carbon-Neutral Engineering Education; (4) International Collaboration among Mechanical Engineering Departments.
Findings, conclusions and action plans of the summit will contribute directly to an international effort in advancing the education for our next generation engineers to tackle the challenges arising from the changing role and scope of mechanical/multi-disciplinary engineering profession in foreseeable future.
For more details and programme of the summit, please visit its official website at URL: http://events.asme.org/Summit2011/home.cfm
