Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Main Menu Session 3225

An Interdisciplinary Practice-Based Design Course for First-Semester Juniors

Dr. Byron Newberry, Dr. James Farison Baylor University

I. Introduction

Baylor University undergraduate engineering students are introduced to engineering design in a required first-semester course (EGR 1301 – Introduction to Engineering) and conclude with a required final-semester senior course (EGR 4390 – Engineering Design II). Additional exposures to design, of various types and amounts, occur throughout the curriculum in required and elective courses involving specific technical areas. In addition to these design experiences, which are similar in form to those in many engineering undergraduate programs, Baylor undergraduate engineering students take a required first-semester junior course in design, EGR 3380 – Engineering Design I, commonly known as Junior Design.

Our objectives in placing a comprehensive design course at the midpoint of the curriculum are: to provide students with a motivating and peer-bonding experience; to reinforce the importance and application of the fundamental concepts they have been, are currently, and will be learning; to develop and promote a professional attitude among students toward engineering; and, to develop students’ teamwork, communication, project management, and ethical skills. We believe that the accomplishment of these objectives can contribute toward the larger goal of improving the level of student performance and success in the engineering upper division.

To provide an interdisciplinary experience, the freshman introductory course, the junior design course, and the senior design course are taken in common by all engineering students. These include students majoring in mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and engineering. In addition, a few non-engineering majors pursuing engineering minors take the freshman and junior courses.

The 2001-02 Baylor University Catalog description of this course reads: EGR 3380 Engineering Design I (prerequisite: upper division admission). Introduction to the engineering design process via team-based projects encompassing the design, construction and testing of an engineering device or system. Projects will emphasize oral, written and graphical engineering communication skills and topics related to engineering professionalism.

This junior design course was introduced at Baylor in 1992. Although the content has evolved over the years, it has always been required of all engineering students. In teams of three to five students (depending on the specific semester), students proceed through the major design stages from problem specification to final prototype compliance test, with a different project each semester.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education Main Menu

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Newberry, B. (2002, June), An Interdisciplinary Practice Based Design Course For First Semester Juniors Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10118