Bylaws

Mission Statement:

The Mechanical Engineering Advisory Council (MEAC) provides a forum for exploring and implementing means by which the education and research programs of the Mechanical Engineering Department can best serve and be supported by industry.

Leadership

The ME Department Head will provide the overall leadership and guidance to the Committee.

The ME Department Head will appoint the MEAC Chair from among its members.

Role

MEAC's roles and responsibilities are advisory.

Membership

The maximum active membership will be 16. Members serve for a four-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms. Terms should overlap with at least two new members appointed annually.

Membership is ideally a mix of senior executives and young engineering managers. While most members will have engineering backgrounds, members representing other disciplines (e.g. Human Resources) can be included.

The ME Department Head selects new members based on inputs from past and present members of the MEAC, faculty, etc. New members are selected from companies that employ Mechanical Engineers and that have a history of employing U of M graduates. MEAC membership should reflect the diversity of such companies.

MEAC members should:

Have a strong interest in the success of the ME Department
Be willing to contribute skills and influence, and to attend meetings
Be an active and postiive external spokesperson for the Department

Meetings

There will be one full day meeting each year. This meeting will include a plenary session followed by breakout sessions to develop recommendations on specific issues. In addition various activities will be planned to acquaint members with Mechanical Engineering faculty members, research projects, and student activities.

In addition to the full day meeting, there may be one or more short meetings of the MEAC or its subcommittees during the year to address specific topics.