Industry Funded Research Impacts on Engineering Faculty’s Research Experiences: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

Abstract

As Director, he was in charge of the building and implementation of the Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Laboratory, which opened in August 2008 and houses classrooms and laboratories used by the 2000 students in Purdue's First-Year Engineering Program. He oversaw the daily operation of the i2i lab, and was responsible for the personnel, logistics, and technology used in the classroom and labs. Eric also helped build and directed the College of Engineering sponsored Artisan and Fabrication Lab (AFL), which houses a machine shop, carpentry shop, and a prototyping lab used by all students in the College of Engineering for project work. In 2009, he received a New Employee Staff Award of Excellence from the College of Engineering for his work in launching the i2i lab. Eric has served as the university representative on the Haas Technical Education Council, which is committed to developing manufacturing expertise at the high school, trade school, and university level. He received a BSEE from Purdue University in 1992. He has over 15 years of industrial experience, specializing in manufacturing and electronic controls, for which he holds 3 patents. Eric's industrial experience includes positions at Toyota, Cummins, Woodward, and TRW Automotive. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue, with an expected graduation date of 2020.

Organizational Barriers to Conducting Engineering Education Research in Education-adjacent Industries

“…Literature in engineering education research has focused on the role of industry in sponsoring discipline-specific technical research and projects [7][8] [9]. While a lot of these instances involve providing funding, other instances include donating technology like laboratory equipment, providing laboratory space, and sponsoring research talks within the industry.…”