thestudents are expected to know and accomplish at the time of graduation. Of particular interestand pertinent to the current discussion are criterions 3(d): an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams, 3(f): an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility, and 3(g): anability to communicate effectively.In most engineering programs, capstone design courses tend to be the courses where these ABETcriteria are typically addressed. Capstone courses have evolved over the years from professordefined designs to industry-sponsored projects where “real” problems are given4,5. Asconstructivist theories of learning became popular, and the academic community recognized thatthat learning is a social activity6, these capstone project-based
students the ability to develop search strategies that will come up with moremeaningful results. Reading through the results, they will see and learn how to relate and useinformation not only in their final reports, but also in their design notebooks and presentations.The rubrics developed here are applied at two major engineering programs. The rubrics wereused in a capstone course. The implications of the results in the context of engineering designeducation are discussed.1. Introduction Engineering design education is a central element of student training in engineering schools.Design projects are usually open ended and thus present students with challenges. This requiresthem to sift through large amounts of information in all formats. Blake
?” Once again, let’s resist the temptation of trying the answer the questions, and note thatwhen students become seniors and prepare to graduate, they must take capstone design coursesand do senior projects. This looks like a last opportunity but a major opportunity for students toget in depth in the use of codes and standards. This certainly sounds like the “major designexperience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework and incorporatingappropriate engineering standards and multiple realistic constraints” required by ABET. But thequestions remain relevant even up to this point: “Do students use in depth codes and standards intheir capstone design or senior projects?” There may not be an absolute yes or no to the
] compiled a subjective assessment of common mistakesin finite element analysis routinely performed in many industrial sectors. After 5 years ofcollecting anecdotal evidence in both teaching undergraduates and advising capstonedesign projects, we found this list to be nearly inclusive of the most common and moreserious errors encountered by novice users of the finite element method. Here, we addseveral additional mistakes commonly observed in the classroom and in capstone designnumerical analyses and present the augmented list in Table 1. While it may come as nosurprise that novice users commit many, if not all, of these errors, they appear toroutinely and repeatedly encounter a particular subset of them. TABLE 1. COMMON MISTAKES IN
culture via aLearning project that connects technology with the abroad society. There has also been growing interest in programs such as Engineers Without Borders, which provide service learning via humanitarian projectsInternational Design/Capstone International experiences are integrated with departmental seniorProjects design/capstone programs. In this model groups of students are assigned projects that have international content.Research Abroad Students travel to an abroad laboratory and conduct research under the guidance of a faculty member or post
further by requiring a junior-level course (ECE 362: Principles of EngineeringDesign) which teaches the fundaments of design before the students start their capstoneexperience. The course is required for all electrical and computer engineering students.ECE 362 is – essentially – a technical writing course taught within the confines of a ten-week quarter. Page 13.1370.2Students explore, develop, and document the framework for a product idea they wouldlike to pursue during their senior-level capstone course. The concepts of discipline-specific research, project design specifications, high-level design, detailed design, workbreakdown schedules, budgets, and
AC 2008-1253: A DECADE OF UNIVERSITY SPORTS FACILITY DESIGNCOURSESMichael Collins, J.P. Morgan Chase Michael G. Collins is a first-year analyst in J.P. Morgan Chase’s Management Services Program where he will rotate between 4 different branches of the bank. He is a January 2008 graduate of Lehigh University earning both a B.S. in the Integrated Business and Engineering Honors program as well as a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. Michael has participated in 3 different courses at Lehigh which utilized a project-based curriculum to partner students with outside clients. In the Integrated Business and Engineering Capstone Project he worked with Online Staffing Solutions of Allentown, PA
composition Sustainability into A Chemical in project-oriented Software Engineering Senior Capstone Design Engineering classes Course • Keith Curtis, Training the Renaissance • Christine Pauken, Engineering Engineer of 2025 Perspectives on Biological Systems: A • Jiancheng Liu, et al., Enhancing Course for all Engineering Students Machine Design Course through • Thomas N. Duening, Enterprise Systems Introducing Design and Analysis Innovation & Management (ESIM):A Projects New Engineering Masters
forboth departments.7.5 Capstone Project or ThesisFor each program there is a required summary capstone experience. For the Applications ofSustainable Engineering capstone project (for M.Eng. students, 4 credit hours), students areexpected to develop a design or an implementation with applications in sustainability.Comprehensive assessments of such developments are anticipated. In the thesis (for M.S.students, 9 credit hours), students are expected to engage in a novel research problem. Aformal written thesis and oral defense before a faculty committee are required.8. SummaryAt the KGCOE, student interest has motivated a number of developments with respect to thediscipline of sustainable engineering. These developments include • expanded
andinterestingly enough how student-designed experiments can be deployed into other courses forre-use. Page 13.905.3MARATHON StructureIn most undergraduate engineering and technology curricula, design and research experiences aredelayed until the capstone/senior design project. This prevailing approach does not properlyprepare students for the creative rigors of design-level activity. Typical laboratories precedingthe capstone experience consist of a set of exercises with largely pre-set experimental set ups andinstructions. Detailed procedures are provided and expected to be followed; outcomes are largelypre-determined with written reports detailing the
codes.During all of this classroom discussion, actual work experiences are solicited from the students.Many of the students have previous or current job experiences and most of the students have, bythis point in their academic program, completed an internship. Experiences that the students havehad in these working environments provide a wealth of material for discussion. Additionally, theinstructor provides a few examples of his own, and also includes some of the classic examplesused to discuss ethical failures within the technology and engineering professions. This entirelesson is also a subset of a lifelong learning project each student in the capstone course mustcomplete. In this project the students create a ten-year career plan that involves
for use of the Rapid Prototyping Lab by students to allow fair andequitable access to the printers. The build times for parts can be rather lengthy, especially forthose for which aerodynamic shaping is critical. Therefore, all parts to be fabricated must beapproved by a faculty member who is placed in charge of the lab and who ensures that the partshave some stated academic purpose. The CAD files are then brought to one of two labtechnicians, who evaluate the parts in terms of fidelity, projected build time, and cost. Build jobs(which typically consist of several parts which make up an assembly) are limited to a 48 hourbuild time and $500 cost. The senior capstone design courses are given priority, with all othercourses queued on a first come
, human-defined problems.During the junior and senior years, students focus their studies more narrowly on one of severaltopic areas, arranged not by disciplines but by “strategic sectors.” Based on the National CriticalTechnologies list,4 the sectors are currently: biosystems, energy, engineering & manufacturing,environment, information & knowledge management, and telecommunications. After narrowingtheir coursework to three of these sectors during their junior year, students concentrate theirstudies in one area during their senior year. Every student completes a capstone senior project,most of which have strong hands-on component, fitting the departmental ethic of real-world,applied learning and work.The work of the AFV is, in several
dialogs withindustry-based participants, there are some useful outcomes for academic projects.However, we should first recognize four important differences. Student academicprojects (at least up to PhD level) are usually: 1. Undertaken by individuals or a small group. The participants do not have much variety or depth in the experience they bring to the project. 2. Short in duration. Even a capstone project is only equivalent to about a month of full-time energetic project work. That’s not long to learn practical techniques. 3. Not part of a continuous development scheme where one project depends on the timely delivery of results from another. 4. Learning-focused. That means that although a project may be funded by a
Innovative Curriculum for Undergraduate Electrical and Computer Page 13.421.11Engineering Students.”References [1] M. Paulik and M. Krishnan, “A competition-motivated capstone design course: The result of a fifteen-year evolution,” IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 67–75, February 2001. [2] F. C. Berry, P. S. DiPiazza, and S. L. Sauer, “The future of electrical and computer engineering education,” IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 467–476, Nov 2003. [3] J. S. Bruner, The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1960. [4] W. M. Clark, D. DiBiasio, and A. G. Dixon, “Project-based
) ‚ Initial Testing: Oct 8th ‚ Final Testing and Artifact Evaluation: Oct 31st ‚ Team Presentation: Nov 7th ‚ Team Final Report and Extended Abstract: Nov 19th 12% 5. Midterm exam (closed book), Oct 15th 23% 6. Final Exam (closed book), Dec 12thTeam ProjectThe largest single component of the grade is the grade for the Team Project. Asummarized problem statement (The actual problem description is usually seven or eightpages.) for the Fall 2007 team project is presented in Table 2. All elements of the projectare submitted by the team, not by individuals as in the capstone course. Students self-select into teams of four (to the extent possible). The major deliverables for the projectare: a final report, a
Polytechnic Institute (RPI)is an educational laboratory that supports capstone design courses. A multidisciplinary team of seniorengineering students works on an open-ended design problem specified by an industrial partner that istypically a global company1. The course goals are to develop a solution to a problem and to demonstrateits feasibility within a 15-week semester. A project typically consists of two or more semesters.Therefore, it is essential for students to prepare well-written documentation of their results so that a newteam can extend their work. A faculty adviser and a sponsor mentor assigned to the team serve as coachesand consultants.On-line collaboration tools, also known as groupware, are widely used in many industrial organizations
Polytechnic Institute (RPI)is an educational laboratory that supports capstone design courses. A multidisciplinary team of seniorengineering students works on an open-ended design problem specified by an industrial partner that istypically a global company1. The course goals are to develop a solution to a problem and to demonstrateits feasibility within a 15-week semester. A project typically consists of two or more semesters.Therefore, it is essential for students to prepare well-written documentation of their results so that a newteam can extend their work. A faculty adviser and a sponsor mentor assigned to the team serve as coachesand consultants.On-line collaboration tools, also known as groupware, are widely used in many industrial organizations
establishsustainability definitions, guides, and processes. For example, ASTM E 2432-05 StandardGuide for General Principles of Sustainability Relative to Buildings provides direction on how toincorporate sustainability into the design, construction and operation of buildings and would be arelevant standard to guide engineering student capstone projects related to buildings. ASTMInternational has assembled its standards with sustainability aspects relative to buildings into acompendium to more readily encourage incorporation into building design, construction andoperation.5 Designers of building products would likely reference and use as a guide ISO21930:2007 Sustainability in building construction – Environmental declaration of building
open to various other student populations on anoptional basis but will be mandatory for ELITE students:Enhanced Capstone ExperiencesAll Engineering Technology students are required to take a senior project course for theircapstone experience during the fall semester of their senior year. This course focuses on theprinciples and design methodology required to solve a significant design problem in a teamcontext. The project encompasses determining customer requirements, exploring and choosingdesign alternatives, scheduling, and project management. Significant milestones are the project'sconceptual, preliminary, and critical design reviews, which require written and oralpresentations. Often these projects are supported by local industry and they
instructors of each major’s seniordesign capstone project began holding multi-disciplinary “Engineering Ethics Lunches”.Students and faculty form small groups during scheduled lunches to discuss specificethical topics related to the engineering profession. The discussions are based uponassigned readings and suggested talking points developed jointly by the faculty.Afterwards, the students are required to submit essays reviewing their discussions andanswering an ethical question based upon the topic.Now in its fourth semester, the multi-disciplinary ethics lunches have receivedoverwhelmingly positive feedback from both the instructors and students. This paperwill discuss the format of the multi-disciplinary ethics discussions, the type of
al., Technical Drawing, 7th Ed. (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1980)9 Dym, op. cit., p. 11110 The percentage of the semester grade that is allocated for this project has changed in the six years the course has been offered. When the course was an elective course (2002-2004) there was an additional Project #4 that was an individual project usually tied to the capstone project that students took at the same time as this course.11 Artobolevsky, Ivan I., Mechanisms in Modern Engineering Design, Vol. II, Lever Mechanisms, Part 1, trans. Nicholas Weinstein (Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1976)12 ME 481 Syllabus, Fall 200713 Toogood, Roger, Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0 Mechanica Tutorial (Structure/Thermal), (SDC Publications
al., Technical Drawing, 7th Ed. (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1980)9 Dym, op. cit., p. 11110 The percentage of the semester grade that is allocated for this project has changed in the six years the course has been offered. When the course was an elective course (2002-2004) there was an additional Project #4 that was an individual project usually tied to the capstone project that students took at the same time as this course.11 Artobolevsky, Ivan I., Mechanisms in Modern Engineering Design, Vol. II, Lever Mechanisms, Part 1, trans. Nicholas Weinstein (Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1976)12 ME 481 Syllabus, Fall 200713 Toogood, Roger, Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0 Mechanica Tutorial (Structure/Thermal), (SDC Publications
al., Technical Drawing, 7th Ed. (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1980)9 Dym, op. cit., p. 11110 The percentage of the semester grade that is allocated for this project has changed in the six years the course has been offered. When the course was an elective course (2002-2004) there was an additional Project #4 that was an individual project usually tied to the capstone project that students took at the same time as this course.11 Artobolevsky, Ivan I., Mechanisms in Modern Engineering Design, Vol. II, Lever Mechanisms, Part 1, trans. Nicholas Weinstein (Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1976)12 ME 481 Syllabus, Fall 200713 Toogood, Roger, Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0 Mechanica Tutorial (Structure/Thermal), (SDC Publications
-based, active learning environmentsfor improvement of student comprehension and engagement.1,2,3 Active-learning requires Page 13.414.2students to be involved in key activities of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. 4 For universitystudents, these activities are most clearly present in the context of directed and independentresearch.5 While certain active-learning activities can (and should) be built into the structure ofwhat would normally be a lecture class (such as group discussions, demonstrations, and groupdesign projects), the level of student engagement supported by a research project would be hardto duplicate in a classroom environment
and patterns of expression, we find the gaps and lack of force that thinking alone oftenfails to identify. Writing has tremendous potential variety, each format serving specificpurposes. Yet the ultimate intent is to convey a message, ranging from precise clarity tointentional ambiguity.A central intent of the MSOE Electrical Engineering program and curriculum is to instill theimportance of professional skills, in addition to the normally expected technical skills.Communication, with an emphasis on writing, culminates in the capstone senior designexperience. While the nominal purpose of the three quarter course sequence is to teach theprocess of design, the project itself is the vehicle used to bring “to life” the design process and todevelop
aerospace students. Several examples of current “grand projects”are considered, and progress towards them is summarized. Several ideas and proven strategiesfor nurturing such talents in formal curricula are considered.IntroductionWhen asked how to define and differentiate aerospace engineering, the best answer used to be:“Aerospace engineers turn the dreams of Humanity to reality through science and engineeringinnovation”. This is hard to remember in an age when air travel has become less pleasant than avisit to the dentist, working for airlines and aerospace companies seems to be a perpetualscramble to stay aloft in a downdraft, and we are under constant pressure to bring “cost reality”to squelch the enthusiasm of students and “focus on realistic
Technology (ECET) department, with at least half of the graded weight comingfrom humanities components.5 The major project for this junior capstone was designed toweave together all of the concepts learned in the first two years of the engineering program(including both humanities and engineering courses). Assignments included an annotatedbibliography, a proposal, an oral presentation, and a project poster board.5 By strengtheningthis relationship and introducing a writing component into the engineering courses from anearly onset, it is believed that the students’ attitudes about and relationships with their ownwriting will improve, as has been suggested by the results of other studies.6Putting a heavy emphasis on humanities components in technical
student engagement as defined for the EE program. These items are listedin Table 1 below.Table 1: NSSE Questions in Support of Engagement NSSE Questions NSSE Number Practicum, internship, field experience, co-op experience, or 7A clinical assignment Work on a research project with a faculty member outside of 7D course or program requirements Study abroad 7F Independent study or self-designed major 7G Culminating senior experience (capstone course, senior 7H project or thesis, comprehensive exam, etc)The students were asked to
HES5340 Fluid Mechanics 2 HES5350 Product DesignCapstone Project Work and MSE Resources ImplementationWithin the mechanical engineering course, in the subject concerned with the capstone project(HES5103), there may be as many as 30 individual research projects spread over a variety oftopics. An example of some of the topics requiring major and minor input for the MSEeportfolio repository for the 2007academic year is shown in Table 2. Within the majority of theresearch topics, there again has been considerable implementation of MSE knowledge. From therequirements of the capstone project the students come to realise that utilising their eportfolio,which contains links to WWW materials, design and