Engineering Education Excellence Award

Call for Nominations
Deadline: March 31
Download: Nomination form (Microsoft Word document).

The Sustaining Universities Program of the Professional Engineers in Higher Education of the National Society of Professional Engineers has established an award to recognize engineering educators each year.

This national award recognizes engineering faculty who have demonstrated the ability to link engineering education with professional practice. The recipients must be licensed and have a faculty appointment in an ABET-accredited engineering program. The recipients of the award will be recognized on the NSPE Web site and will receive a cash prize of $5,000.

The Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology has implemented new criteria and processes for accreditation of engineering education known as EC-2000. The programs that receive accreditation under EC-2000 must demonstrate they have better prepared graduates to become practicing engineers. The Engineering Education Excellence Award has been developed to be supportive of EC-2000 and will recognize faculty members who are working to introduce students to professional practice.

A minority of engineering educators are licensed. PEHE believes that engineering educators should possess the professional designation. To date, a handful of states have enacted legislation to require engineering faculty to become licensed. By instituting this award program, PEHE affirms support of this requirement and will continue to promote and recognize professional licensure among engineering educators.

Engineering Education Excellence Award Winner
William D. Lawson, P.E, Ph.D.
Lubbock, Texas

William D. Lawson, P.E., Ph.D., received the 2011 Engineering Education Excellence award at the NSPE awards luncheon July 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Dr. Lawson serves as an assistant professor on the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas Tech University. His career in higher education is characterized by excellence and innovation in teaching, award-winning scholarship, and sponsored research, and professional service at the national, regional, and local levels. With over 25 years experience in engineering education and practice, Dr. Lawson has provided project management and technical oversight for geotechnical, construction materials, transportation, environmental, and facilities projects nationwide.

Dr. Lawson states "Engineering education must transcend technical competence and also concern itself with transmitting professional values.  This is because engineers do not just solve problems— engineers help people solve problems — and this occurs within communities and diverse social contexts. The ideal engineer is trustworthy, one who not only knows what to do, but also how and where to use his/her knowledge for the benefit of all." 
 
Dr. Lawson's research interests include both technical and interdisciplinary topics. As a geotechnical engineer, Dr. Lawson has focused on expansive/unsaturated soil behavior, soil-structure interaction, mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls, compressed earth blocks, and pavement maintenance methods. Dr. Lawson's interdisciplinary interests include technology and society, engineering professionalism, practical and applied ethics, trust and trustworthiness in professional-client relationships, engineering judgment, the NCEES fundamentals of engineering exam as an outcomes assessment tool, effectiveness of web-assisted and other distance learning methods, qualifications-based consultant selection, and engineering history.

Prior to joining Texas Tech University, Dr. Lawson was employed with the Dallas office of Law Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc., a global engineering design firm, where he served as principal engineer, project manager, and national client manager. Dr. Lawson began his professional career with Trinity Engineering Testing Corporation, Austin, Texas, where he worked throughout central, north, and west Texas as a geotechnical engineer and geotechnical project manager.

As a principal engineer, national client manager, and project manager, Dr. Lawson has directed and managed geotechnical, materials, facilities, and environmental project assignments nationwide. In addition to his geotechnical work, Dr. Lawson has experience in surveying, structural engineering, general civil design, commercial and residential construction, and water well drilling.

Dr. Lawson is a licensed engineer in Texas and is active in various professional and technical societies including the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the National Institute for Engineering Ethics, the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, and ASFE: The Geoprofessional Business Association.

Dr. Lawson, a native Texan, was born in Temple, Texas.  He grew up on a ranch near Lake Belton, attended elementary school in a 2-room country schoolhouse, and worked with his father and brothers in their family business of water well drilling.