Contact: Chriss Swaney
412-268-5776

For immediate release:
April 8, 2002

Carnegie Mellon Engineering Faculty Join Academic Peers to Redefine Technical Education

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's Adnan Akay joins more than 100 engineering school peers at a conference designed to create a blueprint for redefining mechanical engineering education. Traditionally, mechanical engineering was based primarily on the physical sciences. It dealt with engineering challenges posed by the automobile and jet engine industries. But Akay, head of Carnegie Mellon's Mechanical Engineering Department, and peers from other major national universities argue that mechanical engineers of the future must be able to work in a much wider area, including information technology and biology. By 2010, for example, the bio-engineering industry will exceed $78 billion in assets and create more than 300,000 jobs.

WHEN: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., April 8-9, 2002.
WHERE: Clearwater Beach, Fla.