Engineering Design Projects

Catalog description

In this project course, students work in multidisciplinary teams to design products or processes. The course is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students from all parts of the campus community. Each project is sponsored by an industry, government or non-profit partner, and is of real commercial interest to that partner. Students work directly with their partner throughout the semester to establish goals and requirements, evaluate their design as it progresses, and produce a final report, presentation, and, if appropriate, a prototype. Design reviews, held twice during the semester, give students a chance to present their preliminary designs and receive feedback and advice. In completing their designs, teams must consider not only the functionality of their designs, but also the look, feel, appearance, and societal impact. Skills built in this course will include: developing the product statement, establishing goals and constraints for the product, project management, and generating and evaluating design alternatives. As some projects may span multiple semesters with new groups of students, careful documentation of project work is emphasized. Students may take this course for either one or two semesters.