Chapter 5: Science & Engineering Indicators 93

The Nature of Engineering Research at U.S. Universities

What is the role of research in engineering education? How does this academic research component relate to the needs and interests of U.S. industry and government? To answer these and related questions, a 3-year study on the nature of U.S. academic engineering research is now under way. Led by Professor Robert P. Morgan of Washington University and supported by the National Science Foundation, the study is aimed at characterizing the research undertaken by U.S. engineering school faculty members, research staff, and students (Morgan et al. 1993a and 1993b). As part of this study, a national survey of directors of organized university-based engineering research units was conducted to obtain information on the nature, process, and outcomes of engineering school research. To date, responses have been received from 651 of 1,030 of these research units located in 154 universities. Based on these responses, the following preliminary conclusions have been drawn.

Research units appear to be shifting away from the individual investigator model of research toward more applied team research of a cross disciplinary nature. Despite this shift, traditional research outputs such as publications and papers still predominate.
Students continue to play a central role in research.
Industry is substantially involved in university-based engineering research.
The most frequently cited problems of research directors are insufficient funding and lack of funding for long-term research.
Contributions of research units vary widely from those of a fundamental nature to activities leading to major developments in industry and government.

Followup will be conducted regarding this last finding in order to develop case studies of academic research contributions and the processes by which technology transfer takes place. Also, a national survey will be mailed to about 3,500 of the roughly 20,000 U.S. engineering faculty during the fall of 1993 to complement the research directors' survey.

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