EXPORTING A US UNIVERSITY'S PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY COURSE TO A MALAYSIAN ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

"Materials and Processes in the Plastics Industry" is a three credit-hour course at Northern Illinois University offered by the Department of Technology of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. It is an introductory course in plastics technology targeted to engineering technology students. The content, structure, and much of the delivery material has been transmitted to the University of Malaysia-Pahang as part of a larger collaboration to expand engineering technology education in that country. As Malaysia continues to become more industrialized and influential, it has identified that engineering technology education at the university level is vital to produce graduates having the correct balance of theoretical and practical skills. Such professionals are to support applied industries such as air-conditioning and refrigeration, automation, aviation, electronics, mechatronics, and transportation. Course content transferred between the two universities includes a student learning centered syllabus, course plan, learning objectives, plant visits, experimental demonstrations, homework, samples of examinations, and textbooks and references. Comparisons are made between the two programs with an overall similarity noted. Thus the Northern Illinois University version of this plastics technology course is very compatible with Malaysian engineering educational standards and objectives, and the course is suitable for presentation at the University of Malaysia-Pahang with a minimal amount of change.