فصلنامه آموزش مهندسی ایران
پیاپی 42 (تابستان 1388)

The number of students and engineering programs of Iran have significantly increased in the recent decades. In this period, due to the centralized educational planning in higher education, the engineering programs and course syllabus were almost similar in different educational institutes, but their graduates gained different levels of competence. While accreditation is a routine procedure in many countries, there is no consistent way of assessing engineering graduates of Iran. Accreditation can be carried out in three internal, national and international levels. In the absence of a national procedure, and due to the presence of obstacles for international recognition, the internal accreditation might be the most accessible method. Comparison of Iran’s national engineering programs with similar programs in some developed countries showed that our programs are mostly knowledge based and have less emphasis on developing the students’ skills and attitudes. This article discusses the process of accreditation and criteria developed in this respect by some international organizations. It also presents a guideline for internal assessment of Iran’s engineering programs. Internal accreditation will shed light on deficiencies of our engineering programs and prepare them for future national and international accreditation.

Nowadays, National Innovation System (NIS) is accepted as a conceptual framework for societie's innovation plans by main international organizations. This study is undertaken in a attempt to identify a conceptual framework on some related factors (input and process factors) of innovation activities in engineering universities.

This paper investigates the changes in the rate of architecture students understanding of structural bases via common teaching methods and a new suggested teaching model. Thus this research specifically aims to achieve the answer of the following questions: 1. Is there a significant difference in the rate of students` understanding, concerning the specific teaching methods? 2. Does modeling the successful constructed projects have a noticeable effect on learning the structural concepts? And does this method make a significant difference in learning in comparison with discourse and speech classes? 3. What are the students and teachers view of teaching methods? Are their ideas close to the research findings? The research method for this paper is based on Field Trial studies. The outputs considering (PResults show a significant increase in the rate of students` learning by the use of natural principles in comparison with other teaching methods. Meanwhile, results suggest that modeling the successful constructed projects does not necessarily affect the students` perception of structural concepts.

With the increasing importance of science and knowledge in national development and excellence, it is vital to compile and enforce science production strategies to the utilization of potentials and advantages of knowledge and technology. Obviously, it is not possible to achieve and promote science production strategies (with taking into consideration the internal and external variable factors and their effectiveness in actual situations) without continual evaluation and disciplinary and carefully evaluated intervention. Implementation and evaluation are significant elements of planning process. Better implementation and more careful evaluation will result with more learning. In this article, main research and science production strategies for technical-engineering discipline (field) is evaluated based on a field study with two approaches of strategy-making process (indirect) and test and evaluation of criteria (direct). Based on the research results, status of science production strategies in technical-engineering discipline is estimated to be average and not encouraging. This dictates more efforts and commitment for upgrading the research and science production strategies status in aspects of design, management, implementation, monitoring and promotion.

Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Shakir Khurasani is one of the greatest Iranian scientists, of the ninth century A.C. He worked on mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic designs and devices. He presented his works in a book titled "Kitab Al-hiyal". The book was originally written in Arabic in the city of Baghdad, around 850 A.C. To revitalize the old Iranian culture in its scientific and technological sense, the Iranian research organization for science and technology (IROST) in conjunction with the Museum of Iranian science and technologies decided to undertake a research project to establish an understanding these works along with manufacturing their working samples. The project was proposed and carried out by the mechanical engineering research center at IROST. A part of this work covered mechanisms and systems of transferring water from one supply reservoir to other consumption reservoirs. In this comparative appraisal of the two systems; in which different mechanisms are used, details of design and application of each have been studied and compared, proving that both designs are perfect and work according to the book "Al-hiyal". This paper provides an introductory and technically comparative view of these historical technological masterpieces.

Nowadays introducing an integrated strategy for achieving multidimensional development objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran has a great importance. The more overlap on university and industry objectives lead to more cooperative development programs. The world researches have shown that industries have passed four paradigms with support of universities and research centers that are: 1. Productivity, efficiency and effectiveness paradigm 2. Quality paradigm 3. Competition and flexibility paradigm 4. Innovation paradigm ¬The periodic objectives had a great impact on preparing and gathering the “development strategies” for industries and scientific centers. The collaboration between industries and universities create shared goals whose identification them can help to codify the “shared industries and scientific centers collaborative strategies”. ¬This article is delivering a multidimensional strategy for amplifying and enlarging collaboration between industries and universities which can improve the fields of cooperation between them. Problems solving techniques have great impact on passing this periodic phase. Today is proved that problem solving techniques is a basic ability of industry and university managers, which have both technical and managerial aspects. This article also discuses these abilities in more details.

This paper presents the results of a research titled “Investigation of indigenization of imported technologies and its relationships with industrial development with reference to Food and Chemical Industries”. By reviewing the relevant literature, a conceptual framework including influential factors of indigenization of imported technologies and industrial development was designed. Then with 12 criteria of the framework (8 for indigenization and 4 for industrial development) questionnaire and interviews were designed and the field study was conducted in the food and chemical companies. Considered criteria in this research mainly focused on absorption and adoption stages of technology transfer process. The results of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of gathered data in this research show that in food industry, factors like machinery maintenance and repair, quality of products, using internal raw material, adaptation and assimilation of production methods and production of similar technology have means above average measure. Also factors like increasing production, machinery maintenance and repair. quality of products, using internal raw material, producing diverse products, creation of similar technology and adaptation and assimilation of production methods have means above average measure in chemical industry. Totally, these two groups of industries have the same average measures that show good levels of technological capabilities in indigenization of imported technologies, but need to improve themselves continuously. In addition, there were statistically significant relationships among 4 criteria of industrial development and 8 criteria of indigenization of imported technology.