Anual Meeting

On the 28^th of February, 2003, the Department of Mechanical Engineering held the Second Annual Meeting of its Industry Advisory Board. Board members who participated included Eng. Felix Amador (Merck Sharp and Dohme), Eng. Efraín Vassallo (Vassallo Industries), and recent UPRM’s graduates Eng. Ivelisse M. Boerenko (United Technologies), Eng. Maite Iraolagoitia (Procter and Gamble), and Angel Crespo (Raytheon).

The Industry Advisory Board of the ME Program plays a key role in the realization of our goals. As one of our major constituents and most influential bodies, the Board contributes to the development of our student profile of excellence and to industrial experience opportunities for our students. The Board also provides our Program with ideas and funding resources that foster curricular and extracurricular activities. These are just a few examples of the significant accomplishments our Program has been able to achieve with the active presence of people who are deeply committed to our institution and whose aim is to serve and contribute to the preparation of mechanical engineers at the UPRM, across the island, and throughout the world.

At the day-long meeting, the Department of Mechanical Engineering presented program outcomes realized since October 2001, when we held our first meeting and subsequently began implementing mechanisms for carrying out the accreditation process for our undergraduate program. Those outcomes encompassed the compilation and documentation of results that have proven to be paramount not only for the improvement of our program, but for the improvement of other engineering programs at RUM.

Presentations were made by department committee leaders Dr. R. Roman of Machine Sciences, Dr. F. Pla-Barby of Thermal Sciences, and Dr. P. Sundaram of Materials and Manufacturing, as well as by Capstone Course Coordinator Dr. A. Sabzevari, and Dr. D. Serrano, who reported on Solar Car Special Projects. The student body was represented by the presidents of the ME student associations: Oscar Ruiz, President-American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME); Vilmarie Perez, Vocal-Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); and Jolymar Gonzalez, President-Instituto de Ingenieros Mecanicos (IIM). The students’ well-organized and enthusiastic presentations on their respective organizations’ current activities and goals for 2003 impressed the Advisory Board and provided the highlight of the meeting.