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Session 2251

An Innovative Environmental Design Module Kauser Jahan and Jess W. Everett Civil and Environmental Engineering Program Rowan University Glassboro, NJ 08028-1701

Abstract A major objective of the Junior Engineering Clinic at Rowan University is to introduce students to open-ended design projects. All engineering students from the four engineering disciplines namely Civil, Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical share a common engineering clinic class. This class is a major hallmark of the Rowan engineering program for all engineering students throughout their eight semesters of study. The purpose of the clinic classes is to provide engineering students with a hands-on, multidisciplinary experience throughout their college education. The junior and senior clinics emphasize multidisciplinary design on projects of progressive complexity. This paper focuses on three environmental engineering design projects that were sponsored by local wastewater treatment plants and the National Science Foundation. Multidisciplinary student teams conducted a thorough literature search, developed models or design experiments related to their projects. This type of innovative approach for allowing students to become involved in realistic open-ended design problems is beneficial for enhancing their problem solving skills and encourages them to pursue graduate studies.

Introduction

The College of Engineering at Rowan University was created through a $100 million gift from Henry and Betty Rowan in 1992. The College of Engineering’s key features include collaborative teamwork in inter- and multi- disciplinary laboratory and coursework and the incorporation of state of the art technologies and innovative teaching methodologies. Activities of the freshman and sophomore engineering clinic classes at Rowan have already received national recognition (1-8). The freshman clinic focuses on primary principles, measurements, and competitive assessment. The sophomore clinic focuses on formalized engineering design techniques. The junior and senior clinics emphasize multidisciplinary design on projects of progressive complexity. Faculty lead a team of 3-4 students on open-ended design or research projects.

Multidisciplinary student teams engage in semester or multi-semester projects. Funding for the majority of these projects are mainly sought from industry and faculty research projects. The rationale for this approach is to build a strong partnership with local industry, enhance critical thinking skills and to expose students to the engineering profession. Clearly, projects such as these are central to developing design, problem solving and project management skills that are often lacking in traditional engineering coursework. A total of 26 projects were led in the fall (1998) and spring (1999) semesters.

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Everett, J., & Jahan, K. (1999, June), An Innovative Environmental Design Module Paper presented at 1999 Annual Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina. 10.18260/1-2--7742