Conference Session

DEED Potpourri

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Singli Garcia-Otero, Virginia State University; Ehsan Sheybani, Virginia State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Master’s thesis, was mainly focused on technical knowledge, and was especiallyfocused on building a working prototype. Each student had his own technical advisor. However,we realized that this focus did not teach the early stages of design (such as literature search,market study, and cost analysis) and did not adequately emphasize soft skills (such as workingeffectively as a member of a multidisciplinary team, understanding professional and ethicalresponsibilities, understanding the impact of engineering solutions, communicating effectively,and learning by oneself). Therefore, we revised the Senior Design course to include these topics.This paper describes the restructured (“new and improved”) Senior Design course, including:how the student teams

Conference Session

Early Engineering Design Experiences

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aezeden Mohamed, University of Manitoba; Myron (Ron) Britton, University of Manitoba

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

tobrings these issues into the curriculum. Students learn the importance of the “soft skills” early in theircareers. The discussions that arise from in-class situations provide an excellent foundation for the follow-onphilosophy class on ethics that the students are required to take. Communication, both oral and written, iscritical to the success of any engineer and any design. Because these designs are the result of group effort,most students see, first-hand, the effects of communication, both good and bad. Even the best designs have adifficult time being supported and implemented if the design engineers cannot justify their designs in a clearand concise manner. During this course, students are provided with a strict set of guidelines for their

Conference Session

Capstone Design Pedagogy I

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Trivett, University of Prince Edward Island

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

result of this, many authors have argued for moreteaching of the “soft skills” in engineering. Studies like this continue to fuel the see-sawbetween highly “scientific” engineering education and highly “social”. Ultimately, theargument comes down to the question of which side of the balance is sacrificed in favour of theother.The “structural” design of most engineering programs in Canada is, in accordance with theCanadian Engineering Accreditation Board guidelines 2, based on separate distinct courses. Eachcourse in a student’s degree program has a weight in “academic units” (AU’s) which roughlycorrespond to faculty contact hours for each course per week semester. Comparing thisaccreditation standard with current educational literature, there is

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wael Mokhtar, Grand Valley State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

environment to develop soft skills needed for engineers. Theyare distributed throughout the two semesters to give the students a line of guidance. Page 15.259.7Two examples of capstone projects will be discussed in the following sections. The methodexplained above is applied to them with some changes based on the nature of the project.Project 1: Mini Baja vehicleThe Society of Mechanical Engineering (SAE) organizes a design competition for off- roadvehicles each year (Mini Baja). Each team is given the same engine, a set of rules for generalvehicle dimensions, and a list of minimum safety requirements. The technical challenge is todesign and build a