2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Project Unlock - A Journey to your New Industry Partnership Board

Presented at Industry Advisory Boards, Experiential Learning

Through a collaborative, co-created process, a distinct methodology has been developed, for moving what have been Industry Advisory Boards (IAB), into Industry Partnership Boards (IPB). A multi-institutional effort, supported by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN); this method has already directly impacted institutions and engineering programs across the United States. Applied to over 40 Partnership Projects across 7 institutions of higher education, this paper will: a) discuss this method, b) provide an analysis of the impacts of the projects undertaken through its use, and c) provide case study examples of the conversion process from advisement to partnership within the engineering programs at select institutions. The Project Unlock Method™, coupled with the KEEN Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) framework, provides a pathway for engineering programs to leverage the expertise and insight of industry in their programs and curriculum. By shifting IABs from reactionary advisory roles to active partnership roles, the approach demonstrates how academic-industry interactions can become more adaptive and impactful. This paper also shares current efforts from a Project Unlock ™ training involving over 15 institutions that have now committed to applying this method at their college or university. The paper concludes with an exploration of future avenues of this effort to transform higher educational engineering programs to build both the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM); and enriching, resourcing, and enabling future engineering students in the years to come.

Authors

Lt. Col. Erik Carl Backus http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4348-8216 Project Unlock [biography]

Erik C. Backus, PhD, PE, is a Professor of Practice at Clarkson University and the Howard E. Lechler Director of the Construction Engineering Management (CEM) program,
teaching and supporting undergraduate, graduate, and other students and trainees. He has a bevy of
expertise, experience, and knowledge in instructing project based engineering courses working closely with industry and community partners. Erik has
spearheaded the Clarkson Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) Capstone design experience since
2015, using project teams as direct consultants with internal and external clients across the State and
region. He has presented on one such project at the ASEE St. Lawrence Section conference on one such
CEE capstone effort in the past. He also teaches courses in a variety of areas connected to both building
and infrastructure construction. Previous to his time at Clarkson, he was an Assistant Professor of
Military Science at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and an Instructor/Writer for the US Army
Engineer School USAES) at the Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN), Fort Leonard Wood, MO. He
was responsible for rewiring significant portions of the USAES Engineer Captain's Career Course
curriculum related to construction contracting and is a past winner of the MANSCEN Technical Training
Excellence award. Among his current efforts is being a leader in Project Unlock which seeks to transform advisory boards into partnership boards as a way to transform engineering education programs.
Jessica P.M. Fick University of Wisconsin - Platteville
Dr. Jennifer S Atchison Drexel University [biography]

Jennifer Atchison received her Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering in 2012 from Drexel University. Dr. Atchisonâ€™s professional interests include nanofibrous textiles, engineering design, engineering education especially active learning, diversity,
Dr. Jagadish Torlapati http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9273-4121 Rowan University [biography]

Dr. Jagadish Torlapati is currently a faculty at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rowan University in Glassboro. His primary areas of interest are environmental and water resources engineering.
Dr. Philip J. Parker P.E. University of Wisconsin - Platteville [biography]

Philip Parker, Ph.D., P.E., is Program Coordinator for the Environmental Engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. He is co-author of the textbook "Introduction to Infrastructure" published in 2012 by Wiley. He has helped lead the
Dr. Jodi F. Prosise University of Minnesota - Twin Cities [biography]

Jodi Prosise is Chair of Engineering and Physics and an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineerin

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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