Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

Andrea MazzurcoBrent K. Jesiek (PI)

November 1, 2012

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Engineering & Globalization

• Globalization directly impacts engineering practise– Global Engineering Expertise (GEE) increasingly an imperative

• Globalization is a complex and evolving phenomenon– Many engineers have considerable experience working across

countries and cultures– Globalization trends continue to intensify

• GEE can be hiding or lost– Capturing: Survey– Transfering: Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL) 2

Case study

BOING 787 «Dreamliner»• $32 billion investment• Over 800 orders• Global supply chain• Major components manufactured in nine countries• 24 months behind schedule

(Parkinson, 2009)

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Global Engineering Expertise (GEE)

• Engineering Cultures– National differences in engineering practice (Downey et al., 2006)– Problem definition (Allert et. al, 2007) and engineering task (Parkinson,

2006)

• Engineering Ethics– Intellectual property (Parkinson, 2009)

• Regulations and standards– Product design, manufacture, and use (Parkinson, 2009)– Global supply chains (Parkinson, 2009)

• Other cross-national/cultural dynamics– Communication (Ball et al., 2012)– Teamwork and collaboration (Ball et al., 2012)

Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

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Capturing GEE: Survey

• Demographics– Country of origin, gender, experiences abroad (travel, study, work),

language proficiency, ethnicity

• Technical expertise– Quality control, safey, etc.

• Global Engineering Experiences– Record of critical problems (Engineering Cultures, Ethics, Regulation

and Standards, and Other Cross-National/Cultural Dynamics)

Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

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Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)

• Expert experiences collected from survey are formalized in a set of cases– Case contains problem and solution– Case are labeled with proper keywords

• Cases are stored in a searchable library• Engineers can access library when in need• Library leverages a Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) approach and

methodology (Kolodner, 1993)

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Case-based Reasoning (CBR)

• CBR is a methodology that attempts to capture and replicate expert thinking to solve problems (Watson, 1999)

• Involves four main phases (Aamodt & Plaza, 1994):1. RETRIEVE the most similar cases to the new case;2. REUSE the solution suggested by the previous case;3. REVISE the solution of the new case; and4. RETAIN the validated parts of the new solution for solving future

problems.

• CBR has been successfully applied in many engineering and non-engineering applications (see Appendix)

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Use of GEEL

1. Engineer queries the library– Enter search terms and select related keywords

2. Using an algorithmic search process, relevant cases automatically retrieved and ranked based on similarity– Engineer reads case(s) and learns about prior strategies– If no relevant case is found the engineer can pose their case

description to global experts with relevant expertise

3. Engineer applies strategy in the real world4. Engineer is prompted to report on outcomes

– Engineer can rate previous case(s)– Engineer can share his/her new experience

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Timeline

• 10 month project timeline– Months 1-2: Develop and distribute pilot survey; analyze results– Months 3-5: Develop and distribute final survey; create cases– Months 6-8: Prototype, build, and test GEEL platform– Months 9-10: Train employees on use and maintenance of system

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Budget

Item Description/Rate Amount ($)

Graduate researcher (GRA)

10 months @ 10 hours/week 18,507

Faculty Consulting 20 days x $500/day 10,000

Undergraduate programmer

12 weeks x 40 hours/week x $12/hour(summer)

6,295

Overhead 54.00% of select expenses 8,685

Other - travelOther - web hostOther - telecomm

5 on-site trips x $1000/trip10 months x $ 10/month10 months x $10/month

5,000100100

Total 48,687

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Questions?

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Appendix

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Case-Based Reasoning Cycle

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CBR Applications

• Autoclave Loading (Hennessy & Hinckle, 1992)• Aircraft Troubleshooting (Malgadi, 1994)• Product Development (Haque, Belecheanu, Barson, & Pawar,

2000)• Biomedicine (Bichindaritz & Marling, 2006)• Library of everyday problem solving in engineering (Jonassen,

Strobel, & Lee 2006)• Vendor Selection Problem (Faez, Ghodsypour, & O’Brien, 2009)• Microlectromechanical Systems (Cobb & Agogino, 2010)

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CBR Open Source Software

• MyCBR http://mycbr-project.net/• jCOLIBRI http://gaia.fdi.ucm.es/research/colibri/jcolibri• CBRTools http://www-sop.inria.fr/axis/cbrtools/manual/

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ReferencesAllert, B., Atkinson, D., Groll, E., & Hirleman, E. (2007). Making the case for global

engineering: Building foreign language collaborations for designing, implementing, and assessing programs. Online Journal for Global Engineering Education, 2, 1-14.

Ball, A. G., Zaugg, H., Davies, R., Tateishi, I., Parkinson, A. R., Jensen, G. C., % Spencer, P. M. (2012). Identification and Validation of a Set of Global Competencies for Engineering Students. International Journal of Engineering Education, 28, 1, pp 156-168

Bichindaritz, I., Marling, C., (2006). Case-based reasoning in the health sciences: What's next?, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. Volume 36, Issue 2, Pages 127-135, ISSN 0933-3657, 10.1016/j.artmed.2005.10.008.

Cobb, C., & Agogino, A. (2010). Case-based reasoning for evolutionary MEMS design. Journal of Computing and Information …. Retrieved from http://best.berkeley.edu/~aagogino/papers/CBRMEMS_JCISE_reviseddraft_013110_cobb_agogino.pdf

Downey, G., Lucena, J., Moskal, B. M., Parkhurst, R., Bigley, T., Hays, C., Jesiek, B. K., et al. (2006). The globally competent engineer: Working effectively with people who define problems differently. Journal of Engineering Education.

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ReferencesFaez, F., Ghodsypour, S.H., O’Brien, C., (2009) Vendor selection and order allocation using

an integrated fuzzy case-based reasoning and mathematical programming model. International Journal of Production Economics, Volume 121, Issue 2, Pages 395-408

Haque, B. U., Belecheanu, R. a., Barson, R. J., & Pawar, K. S. (2000). Towards the application of case based reasoning to decision-making in concurrent product development (concurrent engineering). Knowledge-Based Systems, 13(2-3), 101–112. doi:10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00051-4

Hennessy, D., & Hinckle, D. (1992). Applying case based reasoning to autoclave loading. IEEE expert, 7(6), 21.

Jonassen, D. H., & Hernandez-Serrano, J. (2002). Case-based reasoning and instructional design: Using stories to support problem solving. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(2), 65–77. doi:10.1007/BF02504994

Kolodner, J. L. (1992). An introduction to case-based reasoning. Artificial Intelligence Review, 6(1), 3–34. doi:10.1007/BF00155578

Malgadi, R. V. (1994). CBR for troubleshooting aircraft on the flightline. IEE colloquium on Case-Based Reasoning: Prospects for Applications (pp. 6/1–6/9).

Parkinson, A. (2009). The Rationale for Developing Global Competence Competence. Online Journal for Global Engineering Education, 4(2).

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Student Profile

• Andrea Mazzurco• Educational Background

– Ph. D. Engineering Education, Purdue University, 2012 - 2016• Research group: Global Engineering Education Collaboratory

– M.S. Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University, 2010 - 2011• Major: propulsion

– B.S. Aerospace Engineering, Politecinico di Milano, 2007 - 2010

• Contact Information– Email: amazzurc@purdue.edu

Global Engineering Expertise Library (GEEL)