Engineering research in US universities: How university research directors see it

The authors present results of a three-year study to develop a detailed understanding of the nature of engineering research being performed in US universities. Their method includes a survey of university research unit directors. It is noted that there appears to be a shift taking place in university-based engineering research away from the individual investigator model towards more applied, team research of a cross-disciplinary nature. Although changes in the nature and dimensions of university-based engineering research have occurred, the traditionally valued outputs of this research still predominate. One element that does not appear to be changing is the central role of students in university-based engineering research. Most research in these units heavily involves students