Cable Selected for NAE’s Sixth Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium

John Cable, Director of the Project Management Center for Excellence and a Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) research faculty member, was recently named one of just 77 of the nation’s most innovative engineering educators selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering’s sixth Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium.

Taking place Oct. 26-29 in Irvine, Calif., the event will bring together faculty members who are developing and implementing innovative educational approaches in a variety of engineering disciplines. Each individual selected to this year’s FOEE symposium was nominated by NAE members or deans and chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants.

“The Frontiers of Engineering Education program brings together top university faculty to explore preparing engineers for the world’s great engineering challenges,” said NAE President and former University of Maryland President Dan Mote. “It is a no-holds-barred look at the front-edge of engineering education."

“Most of the faculty in higher education must adapt to changing times; from chalk boards to overheads, from classrooms to online education, and from traditional students to learners who are quite adept at navigating the Internet,” said James M. Tien, Distinguished Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering at University of Miami and Chair of the FOEE Advisory Committee. “As a consequence, faculty are not only needing to continuously update their course content but also their delivery approach so as to better engage the students. Research on learning, publications on teaching methods, and conferences on education are all trying to support the beleaguered faculty. So is the annual FOEE symposium, which brings together engineering faculty who are eager to share their innovative teaching approaches and to learn from their equally talented colleagues.”

Before taking on his current role as the Director of the Project Management Center for Excellence, Cable served in the newly formed U.S. Department of Energy in 1980, where he was involved with developing energy standards for buildings, methods for measuring energy consumption, and managing primary research in energy conservation. As an architect and builder, Cable founded and led John Cable Associates in 1984, a design build firm.

In 2002, Cable was appointed to the inaugural board for the newly formed Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Educational Programs (GAC) by the Project Management Institute (PMI®). He served as chair of the PMI GAC from 2006 through 2012, during which the accreditation of project management educational programs increased to 86 programs at 40 institutions in 15 countries around the world. He has recently been working to expand project management education, accreditation and representation in China, India and Brazil. Cable was awarded PMI’s 2012 Distinguished Contribution Award for his leadership at the GAC.

The National Academy of Engineering, an independent, nonprofit organization, was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Part of its mission is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology. NAE along with the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.

Published September 24, 2014