Engineers in Hospital: An Immersive and Multidisciplinary Pedagogical Approach for Better Solutions

Eng Keng Soh; Ameek Kaur; Ming Po Tham; Desmond Y.R. Chong

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Intercollegiate and Cross-disciplinary Collaboration
Tagged Division: Multidisciplinary Engineering
Page Count: 17
Page Numbers: 23.527.1 - 23.527.17
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--19541
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/19541
Download Count: 489

Paper Authors

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Eng Keng Soh Engineering Design and Innovation Centre, National University of Singapore

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SOH Eng Keng is an Instructor in the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC) in the Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). Prior to joining NUS, Eng Keng worked in the defence R&D industry for more than a decade, with experience developing and managing complex engineering systems from conception to implementation. In the course of his work, he dealt with various stakeholders including the multi-disciplinary project team members, the industry partners, the Users and external vendors. In the EDIC, he teaches and supervises undergraduate engineering students who engage in multidisciplinary projects. Eng Keng has a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from Nanyang Technological University, and a Master of Science (Management of Technology) from National University of Singapore.

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Ameek Kaur National University of Singapore

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Ameek Kaur is an Instructor in the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC) of National University of Singapore. Her current work involves training and facilitating the multidisciplinary engineering teams through their innovation projects. Prior to this, she has worked in the industry as Senior Embedded Software Engineer and Project Lead for new product development projects. She has been involved in different stages of the product development starting from understanding customer needs to design and development. Ameek has a Bachelor of Engineering (Computer) and Master of Science (Management of Technology) from National University of Singapore. Her research interest is improving the innovation process for multidisciplinary teams.

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Ming Po Tham National UNiversity of SIngapore

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THAM Ming Po is a Professor in the Division of Engineering and Technology Management in the Faculty of Engineering in the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on team dynamics, knowledge sharing and collaborative innovation in globally distributed product development operations and R&D organizations. He also teaches in the Engineering and Technology Management graduate program in the Faculty of Engineering. He was until very recently Director of the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre in the National University of Singapore. Prior to joining NUS he has worked in the Singapore Ministry of Defence, Motorola, Honeywell and Dell in research and senior management capacities. Ming Po holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Calgary, and an MA in Experimental Psychology and PhD in Engineering Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Desmond Y.R. Chong National University of Singapore

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Desmond Chong is currently a Lecturer in the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre (EDIC) and the Department of Bioengineering, National University of Singapore (NUS). He received his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) and Master of Engineering (by research), both from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and a PhD in Orthopaedic Biomechanics from Imperial College London, UK. Prior to joining NUS, he was with Motorola Electronics Singapore, United Test & Assembly Center (UTAC) Singapore, and Institute of Materials Research & Engineering (IMRE), A*STAR, Singapore. His research interests are in biomechanics, computational modelling and experimentation, design and biomechanical characterization for orthopaedic applications, gait analysis and human motion, and bone mechanics.

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Abstract

Engineers in Hospital: An Immersive and Multidisciplinary Pedagogical Approach for Better SolutionsAbstract:The country’s first Engineering in Medicine (EIM) program, jointly taught by medicalprofessionals and engineering educators, has recently been launched by The Faculty ofEngineering (FoE) and the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at a local hospital.This is an initiative by the collaborating parties to bridge the gap between the major fields ofmedicine and engineering by providing engineering students from different engineeringdisciplines a deeper understanding of medicine, via immersive training in hospitals and first-hand interactions with patients and their doctors and therapists. Close contact with the patientswill allow the students to understand the needs of the patients better. Direct interaction withdoctors and therapists will allow the students to appreciate the medical complexity and developbetter engineering solutions. At the same time, the medical professionals will be able share theirneeds in greater detail.An anticipated outcome of the EIM program is that the co-creation of engineering solutions byengineering students and medical professionals will produce effective engineering solutions tohelp patients and their care-givers in the rehabilitation process and beyond.This program enables engineering students to formulate the problems through the user-centricdesign approach. The students enter the hospital to observe and identify unmet medical needs.For that purpose, observation and interviewing techniques are taught before the students begintheir immersion in the hospital, which are constantly reinforced throughout their immersion inthe hospital. By having direct contact with the patients and their care-givers, it is expected thatstudents will have more ownership of their projects and have higher motivation to strive forbetter solutions for the users.This paper will describe the progress of this program, some outcomes in the form of earlyconcepts and prototypes produced by multidisciplinary student groups, and feedback from theusers.

Citation
Format

Soh, E. K., & Kaur, A., & Tham, M. P., & Chong, D. Y. (2013, June), Engineers in Hospital: An Immersive and Multidisciplinary Pedagogical Approach for Better Solutions Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19541

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -             Engineers in Hospital: An Immersive and Multidisciplinary                   Pedagogical Approach for Better SolutionsAbstract:The country’s first Engineering in Medicine (EIM) program, jointly taught by medicalprofessionals and engineering educators, has recently been launched by The Faculty ofEngineering (FoE) and the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at a local hospital.This is an initiative by the collaborating parties to bridge the gap between the major fields ofmedicine and engineering by providing engineering students from different engineeringdisciplines a deeper understanding of medicine, via immersive training in hospitals and first-hand interactions with patients and their doctors and therapists. Close contact with the patientswill allow the students to understand the needs of the patients better. Direct interaction withdoctors and therapists will allow the students to appreciate the medical complexity and developbetter engineering solutions. At the same time, the medical professionals will be able share theirneeds in greater detail.An anticipated outcome of the EIM program is that the co-creation of engineering solutions byengineering students and medical professionals will produce effective engineering solutions tohelp patients and their care-givers in the rehabilitation process and beyond.This program enables engineering students to formulate the problems through the user-centricdesign approach. The students enter the hospital to observe and identify unmet medical needs.For that purpose, observation and interviewing techniques are taught before the students begintheir immersion in the hospital, which are constantly reinforced throughout their immersion inthe hospital. By having direct contact with the patients and their care-givers, it is expected thatstudents will have more ownership of their projects and have higher motivation to strive forbetter solutions for the users.This paper will describe the progress of this program, some outcomes in the form of earlyconcepts and prototypes produced by multidisciplinary student groups, and feedback from theusers.
AU  - Eng Keng Soh
AU  - Ameek Kaur
AU  - Ming Po Tham
AU  - Desmond Y.R.  Chong
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineers in Hospital: An Immersive and Multidisciplinary Pedagogical Approach for Better Solutions
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/19541
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--19541
ER  -