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Undergraduate Engineering Design Course on Prospective of PhD Student AEZEDEN MOHAMED AND RON BRITTON Engineering and Information Technology Complex (EITC), 75A Chancellors Circle University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 5V6

Abstract

ENG 1430, Design in Engineering, is a one term required course that forms part of the common first year Engineering program at the University of Manitoba. It has been structured to assist students develop team skills such as decision making, project management, communication and collaboration while experiencing the use of fundamental engineering design skills. This paper describes the components and operation of the course as observed by the senior author, a PhD student and Sessional Instructor.

Introduction

Design courses, in particular, can incorporate a significant variety of information and topics within their structure. This course targets student early in their Engineering education at University of Manitoba to introduce a creative engineering design team environment, familiarity with the engineering design process and working in teams. It exposes students to creative processes with design components and prepares students for the more advanced classes. It has been shown that keeping the interest of students early in their education has a positive effect on their subsequent educational experiences1. However, there is a limited amount of time that both the instructor and students can devote to any particular course and first year students do not yet have the analysis skills required for detailed component design.

The three credit course is offered to two sections of 80 students in each term, providing an annual capacity of 320 students. Both lectures (two hours per week) and studios (3 hours per week) are held in a Design Studio equipped with moveable round tables and a variety of audio and visual tools. Collapsible “work tables” are available as needed. The design studio is open daily from 8:00am to 5:00pm, apart from scheduled classes, for students to work on their projects.

Design Topics

A variety of engineering design topics are presented in the lectures and then are reinforced by exercises in the studio. Topics include; team development, idea generation, concept selection, conflict resolution, project planning techniques, task assignment and delivery, project record keeping, all illustrated with “real world” examples. Student involvement in the lectures is encouraged through the use of “I-Clickers”.

At the beginning of the term students are assigned to 5-person design teams. All studio work is conducted as members of these teams. Lecture topics provide the background and required to deal with the design components in the studio sections2,3. Student projects are not technically complex, but they do utilize the design tools discussed in the lectures and they do require student to move from concept, through fabrication to demonstration.

System Design

Probably the most exciting aspect of ENG 1430 for first engineering students is the actual fabrication and demonstration of their design projects. The projects increase in complexity as students gain experience. The initial project is completed in one studio session. Ultimately teams will have three weeks to design, build and demonstrate their solution to the design assignment. It is important for students to gain the experience of designing systems that must be built to meet a performance standard. As projects become more complex, students gain an appreciation of the increasing interactions of components in these more involved projects4.

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Mohamed, A., & Britton, M. R. (2010, June), Undergraduate Engineering Design Course On Prospective Of Phd Student Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16515