Winter 2006 Alumni News

IE 5513 Engineering Safety

Faculty members Jonathan Chaplin and John Shutske are bringing their unique perspective on engineering safety to the Industrial Engineering course Engineering Safety. Having taught the course while primary instructor Tarald Kavalseth of Mechanical Engineering was on sabbatical, the two were recruited by Mechanical Engineering to take over the course permanently when he retired.

The course is built around the notion stated in the engineering code of ethics that engineers shall “hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” Having frequently seen the effect of little or no formal training in safe design and what happens when safety issues are an afterthought rather than an integral part of the design, John and Jonathan use real world case studies and applications, such as the space shuttle explosions, national and global disasters such as 9/11 and Katrina, and specific injury cases from the literature and on-site investigations, to make the course come alive for the students. Field trips to sites such as power plants have also been a part of the curriculum.

The course is offered both semesters, one night a week for three hours. The evening is typically divided into three 45-minute mini-sessions, with short breaks between. The course is also offered as a distance education course via UNITE. This allows off-campus students to participate live via streaming video on the internet or look at the lectures later when they have time. The students taking the course on the web are located all over the country, and many are working engineers.

Safety is increasingly important in the engineering curriculum, and additional safety content has been added to the sophomore and capstone design courses, where students are required to do a safety analysis of their project. BAE 5112 Safety and Enviromental Health Issues in Plant and Animal Production and Processing is now required for all Biosystems and Agricutural Engineering Students. The IE course has been getting great student reviews, and some students have suggested that it be required for all engineering students.