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ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT CONTENT FOR A SENIOR DESIGN COURSE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

P. B. Ravikumar Professor, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department University of Wisconsin, Platteville, WI ABSTRACT Mechanical Engineering students at UW-Platteville take the Senior Design Project Course in the final semester of their undergraduate program. Most of the team projects for the course, often all projects, are provided by industry. The course is designed with the primary objective of providing students an experience that serves as a transition from classic engineering education to engineering practice in the real world. To meet this objective, both design and related content essential to the practice of engineering need to be strategically implemented in the course. Related content includes several engineering management topics such as Leadership, Project Management, Time Management, Effective Communication, Human Resources / Relations, and Engineering Ethics. It is a challenge to accommodate such topics due to time constraints or due to the conventional practice of not covering them to a certain degree of rigor. This paper provides a brief overview of the objectives of the Senior Design Project course. The need to relate engineering design and management in such a course is then addressed followed by an in-depth look at the engineering management content that is covered. Teaching / learning strategies adopted in covering the content and assessment strategies used in evaluating the effectiveness are addressed. Non-engineering management faculty planning to introduce engineering management in some of their courses may find some of the material in this paper useful. Faculty who focus on engineering management may find the paper providing some insight and hence ideas of their own as to how engineering faculty approach or must approach the subject of engineering management.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT COURSE The Senior Design Project Course (ME4930) in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is offered to Mechanical Engineering majors in their final semester before graduation. It is a required course for all Mechanical Engineering majors. The course is centered around industry sponsored team design projects. In conjunction with the design projects, instruction/learning on engineering design and related content such as engineering management are emphasized. The manner of conducting the design projects and teaching the subject matter are aimed at achieving the objective of providing a transition for students from conventional engineering education to the practice of engineering in the real world.

WHY ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT IN THE SENIOR DESIGN COURSE ? It is often the case that engineering majors start their careers as engineering professionals and then, after a few years, move on to management positions often related to engineering. American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM) defines Engineering Management as "the art and science of planning, organizing, allocating resources, and directing and controlling activities which have a technological component"1. This definition is followed by the statement "Engineering

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

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Ravikumar, P. (2002, June), Engineering Management Content For A Senior Design Course In Mechanical Engineering Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10393