Conference Session

Design and the Capstone Experience

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Barbara E. Marino, Loyola Marymount University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

], expanding diversity [5], gainingexperience with industry [6] and even to incorporate service learning into engineering curricula[7]. Mini projects have been implemented in the past for various ends, including ABETassessment [8]. Largely, these courses help to teach the many “soft skills” that students will needin their professional careers.However, there is an additional set of soft skills that students need to succeed in these capstonecourses. To that end, our electrical engineering department has added a senior-level course priorto the capstone course. While such a course shares the learning outcomes with the final seniordesign capstone, this course specifically aims to develop soft skills of working with off-the-shelftechnology so that in the

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

Professional Skills and Teaming in Design

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Todd W. Polk, University of Texas, Dallas; Margaret Garnett Smallwood, University of Texas, Dallas; Jeanne Sluder; Robert Hart P.E., University of Texas, Dallas; Joe Pacheco Jr., University of Texas, Dallas

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

engineer’s success. Engineering schools strive to prepare their students in both of theseareas through rigorous education and practice. Technical abilities are taught and practicedthroughout the curriculum, and capstone is where students are given the opportunity to gainvaluable “real world” experience on an open-ended, team-based engineering project.The other component to success in engineering, particularly for new college graduates, is theability to master professional or soft skills such as communication, project management andinterpersonal skills. Companies routinely look for and prize individuals that exhibit theseprofessional skills [1-4].Teamwork is an important skill needed for success in engineering capstone courses. A recentnationwide

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jenni Buckley, University of Delaware; Amy Trauth, University of Delaware; Jeannie S. Stephens, University of Delaware; Sarah Ilkhanipour Rooney, University of Delaware; Dustyn Roberts P.E., University of Delaware

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

sector, and non-profit and start-up entities. The recent rollout of our multidisciplinary senior design program provides us with aunique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in relation to overall careerreadiness as well as select “soft skills” such as project management and ability to work inmultidisciplinary teams. Presently, we have relatively large cohorts of recent graduates from boththe single (<2012) and multidisciplinary (2012+) sections, and, in this study, they were assessedon their experiences in the senior design program. The findings from this work-in-progress studywill provide empirical support for multidisciplinary experiences for students by highlightingeducational and career-development

Conference Session

Professional Skills development in Design

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Schmitt, Florida Institute of Technology; Elisabeth Kames, Florida Institute of Technology; Beshoy Morkos, Florida Institute of Technology; Ted A. Conway, Florida Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

, especially in STEM-related programs 6,7.Nonetheless, the soft skills necessary to succeed in engineering are highlighted in accreditingagencies such as ABET 8,9To mitigate the lack of empathy, employers will often hire engineers who share empathy with theproduct’s target user. For example, the automotive industry has recognized that while femalesbuy 52% and have a significant influence on 85% of all car purchasing decisions, less than 20%of the automotive workforce is comprised of females 10. To address this disparity, theautomotive industry is actively seeking means to increase female employees within variousautomotive sectors. Likewise, it is important that engineering careers that design forhandicapped or elderly target users attract handicapped

Conference Session

Capstone Design II

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Juri Filatovs, North Carolina A&T State University; Devdas Pai, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

criteria to an outcomes-based model is now complete. The onus for defining curricular content has shifted from ABET(‘one size fits all’) to the program’s faculty (‘stakeholder-driven continuous improvement’). Thisnew-found autonomy in determining curricular content has created varied ‘localized’interpretations and implementations. It comes with its own set of challenges. Heightenedemphasis has been placed on development and documentation of professional skills (aka ‘soft’skills) such as oral and written communication, team work, lifelong learning, and global andsocietal issues. Teaching, assessing and documenting soft skills necessitates a new synthesis oftopics. In this paper, we describe our experiences in a capstone design course for

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design II

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Chang, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; Allen Downey, Olin College of Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

approach to assigning students to project teams for ayear-long, industry-sponsored senior capstone course. Successful assignment requires knowl-edge of at least individual project requirements, student skills, student personalities, andstudent project preferences. This mix of hard skills, soft skills, and interpersonal impres-sions requires human involvement to produce a high-quality assignment. The importance offaculty input often requires that the assignment process be labor- and time-intensive.Our approach attempts to reduce the time required to perform this assignment by selectivelyautomating parts of the task flow. An automated search uses a randomized greedy algorithmcombined with local optimizations to explore a large space of solutions

Conference Session

Assessing Design Coursework

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marcia Friesen, University of Manitoba

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

society. In thisessay, Thomas Kuhn’s concept of incommensurability, aspects of constructivist epistemology,and Thomas Green’s framework of professional conscience are used to structure an expandedframework for engineering design, and more broadly, for engineering education and practiceitself.Developments in Engineering Design EducationEngineering design continues to be focal point of discussion and activity in undergraduateengineering education, with the broadly-stated objective to educate engineers with practice-readydesign skills and the soft skills required of practicing professionals. Engineering designeducation requires an integration of mathematics, basic sciences, engineering sciences, andcomplementary studies, facilitated through

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Design in the Classroom

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taskin Padir, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

one computer engineer, two electricalengineers and two manufacturing engineering technologists at Lake Superior State Universityhas worked on this project as their capstone design requirement through the 2007-2008 academicyear. Lake Superior State University offers ABET accredited programs in computer, electricaland mechanical engineering as well as in manufacturing engineering technology. Robotics andautomation is a degree option in all majors. The capstone senior design project is an integral partof all the degree programs and provides a real-life experience for the engineering senior students.The two-semester course has been an important tool to introduce students to soft skills such asproject management, communications, engineering

Conference Session

Empathy and Human-Centered Design 1

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Alexander Pagano, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Saadeddine Shehab, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Leon Liebenberg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

material, you can start with easier concepts or more practical conceptsbesides the theoretical concepts.” Second, the TAs thought that the activity provided students with the opportunity to developsoft skills such as human-centeredness, creativity, and communication. One TA mentioned “I thinkthe purpose that we implemented this activity is to improve the soft skills to be honest; just try toget them a little bit of creativity, kind of like thinking out of the box of the problem”. The other TAsaid, “The activity lets us cover some soft skills like communication and human-centeredness”. Challenges: The analysis of the interviews showed that the TAs thought that the activityposed two major challenges. First, it was challenging for

Conference Session

Professional Skills development in Design

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Smith, University of Calgary ; Genevieve Hoffart, University of Calgary; Tom O'Neill, University of Calgary

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

director of the Individ- ual and Team Performance Lab and the Virtual Team Performance, Innovation, and Collaboration Lab at the University of Calgary, which was built through a $500K Canada Foundation for Innovation Infrastruc- ture Grant. He also holds operating grants of over $300K to conduct leading-edge research on virtual team effectiveness. Over the past 10 years, Tom has worked with organizations in numerous industries, includ- ing oil and gas, healthcare, technology, and venture capitals. He is currently engaged with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary to train, develop, and cultivate soft-skill teamwork competencies in order to equip graduates with strong interpersonal and

Conference Session

Design Mental Frameworks

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Christopher D. Schmitz, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Jake Fava, Siebel Center for Design; Sneha Subramanian, Siebel Center for Design

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

the other(captured on the y-axis) has to do with how students prefer to be developing those skills. ● The “What” - Student Skill Development PrioritiesOne clear divide in the attitudes of students we interviewed had to do with what skills theywanted to prioritize developing during their time in the program. All the students we spokewith acknowledged that the primary purpose of engineering education is to develop technicalskills and knowledge, but many students also saw a lot of value in developing non-technical,“soft” skills (such as presentation and collaboration skills), and even expressed the desire tohave more of this skill development integrated into their curricular experiences. TABLE III

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Raviv, Florida Atlantic University; Anthony Radzins, Florida Atlantic University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

design. Redefining the problem allows for innovative ideas toflow, taking off from the current inside-the-box thinking. Students who have been involved inthis on-going project have gained experience in multiple non-technical soft skills such ascommunication, time management, problem-solving, and the ability to benefit from constructivecriticism. The status of the project sits in the middle of testing our latest prototype which utilizessprings as a mechanism to make the speed bump more dynamic. The idea is to have themechanism impact fast vehicles while having no impact on vehicles abiding by the speed limit.1. Introduction Ever since the first means of speed reduction were implemented their designs haveremained unchanged and have

Conference Session

Professional Skills and Teaming in Design

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Colin M. Gray, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Marisa Exter, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering); Terri S. Krause, Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

thefirst time during the first semester of their junior year. Based on analysis of this transitionalsemester, we identified strategies that students used to build an individual sense of competence,in both technical and “soft” skills. These strategies allow for a fuller conversation regarding howstudents adapt competence gained in their group experiences and identify new areas ofcompetence that must be confronted and mastered. These findings indicate the need to furtherunderstand the differences in the ways that the sequencing of group and individual work mightimpact the development of competencies in individual students, and the ways in which a project-based environment can encourage this development in a systematic and sustainable

Conference Session

Design Mental Frameworks

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Devanshi Shah, University of Georgia; Elisabeth Kames, Florida Polytechnic University; Beshoy Morkos, University of Georgia

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

education research [5] and serves as afoundation for understanding student success [6] and persistence [7]. Further, motivation hasimpacted how problem [8] and project [9] based learning is implemented. Research in engineeringeducation has highlighted the interconnectedness of problem-based and project-based learningapproaches [10,11]. However, the recipe for student development is beyond that of “hard skills”,for example, technical knowledge and project experiences. Universities and colleges are startinginitiatives to promote student development by cultivating a student’s “hard skills” and “soft skills”– such as cognitive knowledge [12,13] and teamwork [13,14], respectively. Ultimately, educatorswant to ensure students leave with all the necessary

Conference Session

Student Empathy and Human-Centered Design

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lexie Mitchell, Colorado School of Mines; Leslie Light, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

. London: Bloomsbury Publishing (1998).[11] T. Pearce. “Building personal skills into a master of engineering degree.” Proc. GlobalCongress on Engng. Educ., Cracow, Poland, 369-372 (1998).[12] R. Cross, R. Rebele, & A. Grant. “Collaborative Overload.” Online.https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload. Jan-Feb. 2016. [Accessed: Feb. 4, 2018].[13] J. Walther, S.E. Miller, & N.W. Sochacka. (2017). “A Model of Empathy in Engineering asa Core Skill, Practice Orientation, and Professional Way of Being.” Journal of EngineeringEducation, Vol.106(1), pp.123-148.[14] B. Penzenstadler, G. Haller, T. Schlosser., & G. Frenzel (2009). “Soft skills required: Apractical approach for empowering soft skills in the engineering world.” Proc

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ding Yuan, Colorado State University, Pueblo; Nebojsa Jaksic, Colorado State University, Pueblo; Jane Fraser, Colorado State University, Pueblo

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

transition from the preparation course to the capstone one. Inthe future, we plan to establish further collaboration between the two courses, such as enforcingthe group activities and teamwork.2) Oral presentations for the proposalsOral communication is one of the soft skills required by ABET. In the seminar course, besidesthe lecture on the professional presentation skills, we try to encourage students to express theirideas orally through class discussions as well as presentations. For the assessment purpose, theoral presentation of the proposal is the most important event since this is the last presentation andis hosted as a public presentation session. During the presentation, students will face not only theinstructor and the classmates in this

Conference Session

Design Pedagogy

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wei Wu, California State University, Fresno; Yupeng Luo, California State University, Fresno

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

] has been gaining popularity and holds the promise of cultivating the desired competency forfuture workforce with breadth and depth [16]. Project-based learning allows students to buildknowledge [17], develop critical thinking, creativity [18] and a number of soft skills (e.g. leadershipand communication) [19]. Aside from student learning process, project-based learning alsoredefines and transforms the role of the instructor. Instead of being the point of authority andsource of solution, the instructor in project-based learning works as a mentor and/or an expertconsultant who helps students formulate their own strategies towards the accomplishment ofproject goals with open-ended, heuristic suggestions while avoid offering the “answer key

Conference Session

Design Mental Frameworks

Collection

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Qiushi Li, Shanghai Jiaotong University; Jiabin Zhu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

in developingengineering students’ multiple skills and abilities, such as independent thinking, criticalthinking, creative thinking and hands-on skills [8]-[10]. For instance, using self-reported questionnaires among senior students ， Marques (2017) pointed out thatengagements in SDPs can strengthen students' soft skills like communication andpublic speaking [9]. Also, Xiong and Liu (2012) suggested that students whoparticipated in SDPs got their critical thinking and engineering design thinkingimproved [13]. In addition, applying self-efficacy scales, Dunlap (2005) measuredstudents' self-efficacy in a capstone environment. Pre- and post- data showed astatistically significant change in student perceptions of personal ability andpreparedness

Conference Session

Teams and Teamwork in Design I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janice Miller-Young, Mount Royal College; Sean Maw, Mount Royal College

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

; • Increase student retention in engineering programs10-11.However there are many “soft skills” required in learning design and no consensus on which aremost important for first year students, nor which is the best way way to teach them. Someinstitutions focus on design methods and team dynamics [eg. Harvey Mudd], others on designand writing [eg. Northwestern], and others combine design with graphics [eg. Penn State].Mount Royal College offers a University transfer engineering program. Thus, our courses mustconform with the local University to which most of our students transfer. In design terms, theconstraints imposed by the University are that there are two sequential first-year courses, eachwith 1 hour of lecture time per week, and 4.5 hours of

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 II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen Wosczyna-Birch, CT College of Technology and the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing; Wesley Francillon, Ph.D., Connectiuct Community College; John Birch, The Birch Group, LLC

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

improving life on thisplanet. In addition, the LSSL Program continues to implement recruitment and retentionstrategies identified in the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Sciences Page 22.868.2(IWITTS), an NSF funded project, which addressed gender equity and the recruitment andretention of underrepresented populations in non-traditional fields. The structure of the LSSLProgram has impacted not only students enrolled in the Program but also educators and industrypartnerships through innovative education techniques, particularly the integration ofprofessional/soft skills with PBL.LSSL Program project teams have been

Conference Session

Design in Freshman and Sophomore Courses

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Suzanne W. Scott, Petroleum Institute

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Middle Eastern/US collaboration continues to provide our students with opportunities fora globally informed education through it competitions and forums. The activities describedabove have fostered a rich and productive intercultural dialogue while giving students Page 25.1057.7valuable training in a global engineering project. While creating solutions to global problemsrequiring their technical engineering skills, the students discovered that soft skills such ascommunication and teamwork were integral to their success, regardless of culture. Facultyand students enjoyed greater understanding of the differences and sameness of theirrespective cultures

Conference Session

Design Teams 2

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Meghan Leigh Fajarillo; Angie Moussa; Yanfen Li, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Her current research is in engineering education with a focus on curriculum development and retention of female and minority students in engineering. American c Society for Engineering Education, 2021 Impacting Team-Based Learning of First-Year Engineering College Students via the creation of an Upperclassmen Project Management CourseAbstract Engineering curricula excels at introducing students to technical information andengineering design thinking which is important for students to succeed in their future careers.However, “soft skills” such as teamwork is also an essential skill in engineering curricula.Generally, it is

Conference Session

Assessing Design Coursework I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nirmala Gnanapragasam, Seattle University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

thegraduates as well as the program. They have aided us educate better preparedgraduates with strong technical and soft skills. Bringing the diverse constituentsinto the assessment process has strengthened the program. In the current globalmarket to stay competitive we have continuously reviewed the assessment tools,the process, and the results and have made appropriate changes to improve theprogram.ConclusionsProject based senior design capstone experience effectively satisfies both, ABET2000 criterion 4 (that students participate in a major design experience) and mostcriterion 3 (a-k) program outcomes. Seattle University’s 20-year old seniordesign program has evolved over the years to meet many, if not all, of the

Conference Session

Design Cognition

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rogelio Cardona, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez; Ted Cruz, University of Puerto Rico; Noraica Davila, University of Puerto Rico; Omar Ferrer, University of Puerto Rico; Alexander Gonzalez, University of Puerto Rico; Ramon Gonzalez, University of Puerto Rico; Willie Gonzalez, University of Puerto Rico; Nelson Mendez, University of Puerto Rico; Damian Torres, University of Puerto Rico; José Vega, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

new mentor. Another team member learnedhow to not criticize ideas before they are given a chance to surface. Yet anotherteam member learned about teamwork. Even though these are soft skills (whichare necessary as an engineer), the focus of the group was to develop an idea, not atechnical description or product. Moreover, if the team had remained strictlyfocused on merely fulfilling the course objective, the team might not have learnedall these skills. The fact that the team learned so much in so little time paves theway for creativity to make its case in engineering education. Needless to say, allteam members would repeat the experience again.Looking Back: AchievementsThe whole endeavor provided many experiences some of which have

Conference Session

Teamwork and Student Learning in Design

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nikolaos E. Vitoroulis Jr, Stevens Institute of Technology; Changhong Zhang; Kishore Pochiraju, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

separate designvectors, and to demonstrate the behavior in a physical test or application. The activities will alsoshowcase different modes of failure of mechanical components, and the uncertainty that lieswithin the material itself or within the process of manufacturing. Focusing the activities in a self-learning group environment, students’ learning experience will be greatly improved in tandemwith their soft skills: reporting, communications, and planning [2].To promote a better interest in the overall learning outcomes, the series of activities arestructured to combine their knowledge and culminate to a final project competition for the designof a planar-truss. A competition can bolster the intellectual maturity of students who begin torealize

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert G. Batson P.E., University of Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

skills before graduation. The term people skills for professionals (synonymous with social skills, or soft skills) refer to a collection of skills including:  Communication skills (verbalization, listening, writing, reading)  Creativity in professional settings  Adaptability to situations encountered on the job  Collaboration (teaming) skills  Leadership skills. So, people skills for professionals are about working with and relating to other people encountered at work. There are two lines of thought about development of those skills in engineering students:  Each student has a Myers-Briggs personality type, and their particular type dictates the ease or difficulty they will encounter as an entry

Conference Session

Design in Engineering Education Division: Postcard and Student Essays

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lee Allen Dosse, University of Pittsburgh; Irene B. Mena, University of Pittsburgh; William W. Clark, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

university. The collected data also helped determine what practices could beimproved. Although the study was done on a specific makerspace, the setup and operation of thefacility are well-defined, and may potentially aid other colleges and universities in creating andmaintaining their own makerspaces.References[1] U. S. National Academy of Engineering, "The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century," National Academies Press, Washington, D. C., 2004.[2] M. Itani and I. Srour, "Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Soft Skills," Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, vol. 142, no. 1, p. 04015005, 2015.[3] U. S. Department of Commerce, "The Innovative and Entrepreneurial University: Higher

Conference Session

DEED Postcard Poster Session

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Austin Talley P.E., Texas State University; C. Richard Compeau Jr, Texas State University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

planning the event, e.g., the concurrent talks, food, etc. Hard to estimate how many will attend; this affects amount of food ordered, chair setups, etc.Presentations Presentations are good practice for Some disciplines want shorter or students. longer talks which makes multiple It's a valuable soft skill to develop. concurrent sessions difficult to Develops organizational skills. schedule