A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions

Baldwin, Virginia (2003) "A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions," American Society for Engineering Education Conference, June 23, 2003, Nashville, TN,

Elimination of All-Optical Cycles in Wavelength-Routed Optical Networks

A transparent (wide-area) wavelength-routed optical network may be constructed by using wavelength cross-connect switches connected together by fiber to form an arbitrary mesh structure. The network is accessed through electronic stations that are attached to some of these cross-connects. These wavelength cross-connect switches have the property that they may configure themselves into unspecified states. Each input port of a switch is always connected to some output port of the switch whether or not such a connection is required for the purpose of information transfer. Due to the presence of these unspecified states, there exists the possibility of setting up unintended alloptical cycles in the network (viz., a loop with no terminating electronics in it). If such a cycle contains amplifiers [e.g., Erbium- Doped Fiber Amplifiers (EDFA’s)], there exists the possibility that the net loop gain is greater than the net loop loss. The amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise from amplifiers can build up in such a feedback loop to saturate the amplifiers and result in oscillations of the ASE noise in the loop. Such all-optical cycles as defined above (and hereafter referred to as “white” cycles) must be eliminated from an optical network in order for the network to perform any useful operation. Furthermore, for the realistic case in which the wavelength cross-connects result in signal crosstalk, there is a possibility of having closed cycles with oscillating crosstalk signals. We examine algorithms that set up new transparent optical connections upon request while avoiding the creation of such cycles in the network. These algorithms attempt to find a route for a connection and then (in a post-processing fashion) configure switches such that white cycles that might get created would automatically get eliminated. In addition, our call-set-up algorithms can avoid the possibility of crosstalk cycles.

Global Competence: Determination of its Importance for Engineers Working in a Global Environment

We live and work in a world that is even more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Engineers must now not only develop technical engineering competence, but must also develop additional skills and competencies including global competence to obtain success within a global engineering environment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether multinational companies considered global competence an important skill in mechanical engineering graduates when making hiring decisions. The study was an exploratory study that utilized an extensive literature review to identify eight global competencies for engineering success within a global environment and also included a survey instrument completed by Brigham Young University (BYU) mechanical engineering alumni in 48 states and 17 countries. The study focused on an evaluation of standard hiring technical engineering competencies with eight global competencies identified in the literature review. The study established that standard engineering technical competencies were the most important consideration when hiring mechanical engineers, but global competence was also considered important by a majority of all survey respondents with six of the eight global competencies rated important by 79 to 91% of respondents with an ability to communicate cross-culturally the highest-rated global competence. The importance of global competence in engineers when making hiring decisions, as considered by large companies who employed more than 10,000 employees or who had annual revenue exceeding $1 billion (US$) per year, was particularly strong. The majority of respondents (70%) indicated that companies were willing to provide training and experience to help engineers obtain success in a global engineering environment. In addition, a majority of respondents (59.9%) indicated that companies valued the efforts of higher educational engineering institutions to prepare engineers for success in a global environment with only 4.8% of respondents indicating that they did not value the efforts of higher education engineering institutions. However, only 27% of respondents agreed that colleges and universities were successful in this endeavor. Globalization is not a passing phenomenon, it is here to stay. Colleges and universities throughout the world need to recognize the importance of globalization and the interdependence and interconnectedness among the world’s population. Therefore, it is important to identify, develop, and provide opportunities for international collaboration and interaction among students and faculty throughout the world and to focus on developing global competence as an important outcome for engineering graduates.