May 16, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

"Learning and Engineering Design" will be the theme of the fifth biennial Mudd Design Workshop to be held at Harvey Mudd College (HMC) May 19-21, 2005.

Organized by Clive L. Dym, Fletcher Jones Professor of Engineering Design and director of the Center for Design Education at HMC, this year's program will draw engineers, designers, researchers, cognitive scientists and educators to articulate cognitive and educational issues of learning and engineering design. The 2005 workshop's participants will come from across the U.S. and Canada, Spain, Denmark, Hungary and the Netherlands.

The keynote address, "Engineering and the Design of Learning Environments for Engineering Design: Can the Psychology of Learning and Assessment Help?" will be delivered on Friday, May 21, by James W. Pellegrino, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Pellegrino received his M.A. and Ph.D. in experimental and cognitive psychology from the University of Colorado. Recently, he served as chair of the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences Study Committee for the Evaluation of the National and State Assessments of Educational Progress, and co-chair of the NRC/NAS Study Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice. Currently, he is co-chair of the NRC/NAS Study Committee on Cognitive Science Foundations for Assessment.

The Mudd Design Workshop is the principal activity of HMC's Center for Design Education in the Department of Engineering. The HMC curriculum maintains exceptional rigor in engineering, science and mathematics, along with an unusually strong emphasis on humanities and social science -- all in support of its mission of socially responsible scientific and technological leadership.

Clive L. Dym has been the driving force behind the workshop since it was first held in 1997. He was recognized in 2004 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers with the Joel and Ruth Spira Outstanding Design Educator Award. His primary interests are in engineering design and structural mechanics. Dym earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University and has authored or co-authored 10 books and more than 100 archival publications and technical reports. He currently serves on the Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board in the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences of the National Academies.

Dym was founding editor of the journal "Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis, and Manufacturing," and is currently associate editor of ASME’s "Journal of Mechanical Design." He is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Dym’s other awards include the Walter L. Huber Research Prize (ASCE, 1980), the Boeing Outstanding Educator Award (first runner-up, 2001), the Fred Merryfield Design Award (ASEE, 2002).

Conference Program (PDF file)