The 5XME Workshop and Report

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AbstractThis proposal is to organize a workshop for the mechanical engineering research and education community, in partnership with allied fields, to develop a transformative vision and strategy to serve national needs in the current environment of global competition. Globalization, with open flow of information, goods and people all over the world, brings benefits to all. However, it also creates challenges for the nation. For example, in engineering education many countries now emulate the successful US engineering schools and curricula, and are producing an order of magnitude more engineers, of comparable quality, than the US. Global companies can employ such world-class engineering talent, often at 20-30% of the cost in the US, and are moving manufacturing, design and even research activities to such locations. The economy and prosperity of the nation will depend on our ability to respond effectively to such a changing environment, especially in core engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering. The challenge is how to educate a mechanical engineer that provides five times the value-added when compared to the global competition, i.e., the "5XME".The workshop will identify the attributes that mechanical engineering graduates will need to achieve the transformative goal of a "5XME." The primary goal of the workshop and report is to provide recommendations to NSF/CMS, and other funding agencies, regarding needs and priorities for future investment in mechanical engineering research and education. This will be accomplished through a series of workshops, symposia, and reports with broad participation by the engineering education and research community as well as NSF personnel.