Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE)

/Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE)
Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) 2017-04-25T08:54:49+00:00

Indo Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) was conceptualized by over 150 leaders of engineering education and businesses from US and India in 2007. The name was modified in 2016 from Indo US Collaboration for Engineering Education to reflect the more global nature of the collaborations. IUCEE is one of the founder members of IFEES (International Federation for Engineering Education Societies), which was the primary facilitator for the growth and development of IUCEE.

The vision of IUCEE is to improve the quality and global relevance of engineering education and research in India with related benefits to engineering educators around the world. The major focus is on faculty development, student development, curriculum development, as well as improved teaching technologies & engineering education research.

The IUCEE process is under way during the past ten years. Financial contributions from distinguished patrons helped initiate the program. International experts from the US travel to India to discuss global best practices in teaching and research in their field with Indian faculty at Faculty Leadership Institutes. During the past ten years, 180 workshops were conducted. Significant positive outcomes from these workshops have been demonstrated. Networks for collaborations have resulted. Faculty from over 100 Indian colleges and 200 international faculty members from over 50 international institutions around the world, are connected in a wide variety of research and teaching collaborations.

The IUCEE College Consortium was formed in 2010 and has 57 members in 2017. Members receive special assistance in establishing collaborations with international experts and institutions. Annual Consortium Membership fees enable IUCEE to be financially sustainable. IUCEE has facilitated Twinning and Study Abroad programs between US colleges and IUCEE Colleges.

The IUCEE Virtual Academy, started in 2011, uses technology to enable engineering education experts to conduct live Webinars and MiniCourses on-line to faculty and students all over India. More than 500 webinars on teaching, research and general education topics have been conducted. Recordings of all the webinars are available to Consortium members. Several mini-courses have also been conducted on-line on various topics including Outcomes Based Education.

The IUCEE Global Network facilitates the participation of faculty, students and leaders of Consortium institutions to international events in engineering education. These include Global Engineering Deans Conferences (Chicago in 2013, Adelaide in 2015) World Engineering Education Forums (Dubai in 2014, Florence in 2015, Seoul in 2016). An India Branch of ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) meets at the ASEE Conferences (2014, 2015, 2016). Students from Consortium institutions participate in Global Student Forums (Columbia in 2013, Dubai in 2014, Florence in 2015, Seoul in 2016).

IUCEE Student Chapters facilitate regional and national conferences for promoting leadership and project based activities among students at Consortium institutions. More than 40 workshops have been conducted by IUCEE leaders for students all over India during 2014-2015.

The IUCEE co-organizes the International Conference on Transformations in Engineering Education (ICTIEE) annually in India. The first ICTIEE 2014 was held at Hubli in 2014, the second ICTIEE 2015 was held at Bangalore in 2015 and the third ICTIEE 2016 was held in Pune in 2016. The fourth ICTIEE 2017 was conducted in three locations (Hyderabad, Rajkot and Jaipur) during which more than 1000 participants attended, 200 papers were presented, with 40 participants from around the world.

In 2014, IUCEE has also started publishing the Journal for Engineering Education Transformations (JEET), in collaboration with one of the Consortium Colleges (Rajarambapu Institute of Technology). This journal is a vehicle for sharing best practices in engineering education by Indian and global engineering educators. JEET also publishes of papers presented at ICTIEE Conferences.

In 2015, IUCEE with assistance of IGIP (International Society for Engineering Education), Austria has started certifying engineering faculty, IIEECP (IUCEE International Engineering Educator Certification Program) has piloted this program in 2015-16 with certification of 105 faculty from all over India. During 2016-17, more than 250 faculty are expected to complete the certification program.

In 2016, the iGLOBE (IUCEE Gurukuls for Learning and Outcomes Based Education) program was started with the objective of facilitating institutional transformations at IUCEE Consortium member institutions.

The IUCEE-EPICS Partnership (Engineering Projects in Community Service) has been launched in partnership with Purdue University in 2016. Six Consortium Institutions are members of this partnership and engaged with several community partners with the goal of providing engineering education with emphasis of design thinking and development of professional skills while assisting communities on real projects.

The Industry Teaching Fellows formed by a group of industry leaders in 2016 has started the process of developing a program to guide engineering colleges in their efforts to improve the employability of engineering graduates.

In summary, IUCEE has become established as a prime mover for improving quality of engineering education in more than 50 engineering colleges in India. An ecosystem has been built with the help of global experts from around the world. This ecosystem includes face-to-face workshops, webinars and courses in a blended format for faculty development, international conferences, a peer-reviewed journal for engineering education, a certification program as well as networking opportunities between engineering educators and students from India and the IFEES global community.

IUCEE is a program headquartered at University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA