Enhancing the Success of First-year Engineering Students

August 9 - 10, 2012

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

As a continuation of the Dialogue started at the University of Notre Dame and on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh, we welcome you to the First Year Engineering Experience. This 4th Annual First Year Engineering Experience Conference is being held at The Swanson School of Engineering. The program committee welcomes you to Pittsburgh and hopes that you will find your time here enjoyable and valuable as you participate in the broad range of experiences that have been planned.

FYEE is a unique opportunity that allows attendees and presenters to discuss ideas, reflect on the topics and issues from the sessions, and chart new directions and collaborations. We hope to see lots of new faces at FYEE 2012, and also hope that those who have attended previous conferences will join us for this one.

The FYEE program begins on Thursday afternoon with a series of four workshops and a group discussion on topics related to the First Year, to set the tone for the proceedings. Invited facilitators from around the country will hold short workshops on important topics, where the facilitator and attendees will have the opportunity to interact. The schedule is designed to allow attendees to participate in two workshops on Thursday afternoon. Following the workshops there will be a reception and dinner where attendees will have the opportunity to meet, mingle and discuss the topics from the afternoon workshops.

Friday is a day of "Best practice" presentations, when the attendees will present their work and show how it fits into the discussions from the previous days workshops. Friday will conclude with a summary session where the high points of the conference are summarizes by teams of attendees. The conference concludes with a discussion of these talking points, and these presentations then become the starting workshops for the 2013 conference. For the attendees that decide to spend the night in Pittsburgh, Friday night is an evening of sharing and networking as presenters and attendees attend a social event at PNC Park the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, that is designed to promote networking.

Dan Budny
University of Pittsburgh
FYEE 2012 General Chair