The College of Engineering and Technology’s Design4Practice Program at Northern Arizona University

Abstract

In 1992, the College of Engineering and Technology at Northern Arizona University implemented an innovative new program that would integrate engineering design throughout the entire undergraduate engineering curricula. Today, this Design4Practice program consists of four courses that span the freshman to senior years in all engineering degree programs at NAU. Throughout the duration of this program, students from civil engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and environmental engineering collaborate to solve increasingly complex engineering problems. Now NAU is looking to expand the program, to incorporate not only inter-disciplinary collaboration but also international collaboration.

The concept of the Design4Practice program was originally based on the realization that the professional lives of engineers will increasingly require cooperative work with colleagues from other engineering disciplines. The courses in the program are team-taught by faculty from all of the engineering disciplines at NAU, and they simulate a corporate engineering environment. The program is founded on a set of objectives that are based on the needs of industry. These objectives include producing engineering graduates who can creatively apply technical skills to solve problems effectively, explicitly teaching engineering students to integrate the technical skills obtained in traditional engineering courses into the overall engineering process, helping students develop the collaborative and communication skills necessary to be successful engineers, and exposing students to the engineering product realization process in a meaningful way.
Authors: Katharine Baker, Charlene Radsack

Introduction

In 1992, the College of Engineering and Technology at Northern Arizona University implemented an innovative new program that would integrate engineering design throughout the entire undergraduate engineering curricula. Today, this Design4Practice program consists of four courses that span the freshman to senior years in all engineering degree programs at NAU. Throughout the duration of this program, students from civil engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and environmental engineering collaborate to solve increasingly complex engineering problems. Now NAU is looking to expand the program, to incorporate not only inter-disciplinary collaboration but also international collaboration.

The concept of the Design4Practice program was originally based on the realization that the professional lives of engineers will increasingly require cooperative work with colleagues from other engineering disciplines. The courses in the program are team-taught by faculty from all of the engineering disciplines at NAU, and they simulate a corporate engineering environment. The program is founded on a set of objectives that are based on the needs of industry. These objectives include producing engineering graduates who can creatively apply technical skills to solve problems effectively, explicitly teaching engineering students to integrate the technical skills obtained in traditional engineering courses into the overall engineering process, helping students develop the collaborative and communication skills necessary to be successful engineers, and exposing students to the engineering product realization process in a meaningful way.

About the Program

During the first course of the Design4Practice program, EGR 186: Introduction to Engineering Design, students are introduced to modern design software tools, equation solving software, and spreadsheets, all taught within the framework of the design process. The course culminates in a student design project emphasizing teamwork, collaborative learning, and communication skills. Although the freshman design projects do not have the same level of complexity and technical content as a senior level project, the freshman design experience allows students to see the importance of communication, teamwork, and time management. Finally, the projects are interesting and fun for the students, providing motivation to persevere through the difficult math and engineering science courses required during the first two years of their engineering program of study.

The second course in the program, EGR 286: The Process, focuses on the engineering environment as found in engineering organizations. Students are exposed to that environment in the context of an engineering product cycle simulated during a semester long project. This simulation is enhanced by having an interdisciplinary team of faculty members who play the predefined management roles of division managers, chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO). Students play the role of engineers who have been recently hired into a midsize engineering firm. As engineers in the company, students are members in one of many divisions. Each design team is a balanced mixture of students from various engineering disciplines, including two students from each of: civil/environmental engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. After being introduced to the company’s culture, learning their roles in the organization, and being properly trained in teamwork, students are presented with an engineering problem by a customer. The remainder of the course is spent in requirements capture, problem analysis, designing, building, and testing a solution.

The third course of the program, EGR 386: The Method, emphasizes analytical engineering skills, rigorous design methodologies, sophisticated project management ideas, subcontract management, and topics on professionalism and ethics. Greater emphasis is placed on careful planning and scheduling, cost estimation, and economics. EGR 386 students are expected to rigorously apply sound engineering principles to their task, as opposed to a more intuitive approach that is acceptable in EGR 286.

The fourth and final course in the Design4Practice program, EGR 486: Capstone Design, differs from the other three courses in that it is discipline specific. The purpose of the capstone design experience is to give students exposure to the product design and development cycle under a less controlled environment than in previous design courses. Students in this course communicate extensively with a client outside the university environment. The primary objectives of this course include the refinement of team participation skills, requirements capture and analysis skills, systematic design strategies, and the enhancement of written and oral communication skills. The ultimate goal of this course is to produce engineering and computer science graduates who are better prepared to enter the professional engineering workplace.

EGR 186 – The First Step

The introductory course to the Design4Practice program is EGR186. This course is comprised of in-class activities, a midterm and final exam, a technical paper, and team projects. In-class activities consist of numerous videos and miniature group projects. The videos range in topic from the representation of seven habits of highly effective people, to paradigms, to the importance of goals and communication within a company. In-class activities also consist of miniature group projects. The first project is the building of a tower out of Tinkertoys. The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate the need for asking questions and gathering information during the design cycle when designing for manufacturability, which must consider factors such as performance, cost, quality, material availability, safety, reliability, manufacturing capability, scheduling, and testing. Each team competes with the other teams to determine who can maximize profit. The exercise consists of two phases – Design, followed by Manufacturing – in which there is a designated time allotment by which each group must meet the requirements. A second in-class activity is the Dice Activity. Each team must calculate the probabilities of rolling each of the numbers from 3 to 18 using three dice. One group member is selected to record the calculated data and to prepare a data sheet. Once this is complete, the group experimentally determines the frequency of the numbers that appear when rolling all three dice a total of fifty times. All five teams combine their frequency of occurrence for each of the numbers that appear in order to determine the actual frequency for rolling all three dice fifty times.

Both the mid-terms and final exams are split up into two sections: individual and team. Each student works individually to answer questions about the topics covered in the class. Then, each student is placed into a team where they have to work with their teammates to solve the given problems. For this section, everyone on the team earns the same grade. Administering the tests in this manner teaches the students the importance of communication, teamwork, and time management.

At the end of the semester, each student is expected to individually write a research report and present it to the class. This helps develop each student’s public communication skills, as do the presentations required of the team projects.

There are three team projects performed throughout the semester. Each team member is designated a position, such as team leader. All team members will grade the participation and contributions of their own team members, and each member’s grade will be adjusted to reflect this evaluation. This ensures full participation by each student so that they can learn the importance of teamwork and communication.

The first project is the Paper Bridge Design Challenge, in which each team is to build a paper bridge that will support a maximum of weight while minimizing costs. Each team is given the following supplies: fifty sheets of 8,5” x 11” paper, one six oz. tube of white glue, one 0,75 x 1296 inch roll of Scotch "Magic Tape," one spool of white sewing thread (250 yd.), and three dozen straight pins. Each material costs a pre-determined amount, which will be used to evaluate the performance of the bridge. The performance will have a unit of dollars and the best design will have the lowest cost to load ratio. The only constraints are that the Paper Bridge must span a minimum of 30 inches, with each end supported by the classroom tables. Weights will be set on a plywood loading platform that rests on top of the bridge. All of the designing and building must be done within the allotted time. After testing, each team will make an oral presentation on their project, reporting on how they came up with their different designs, how they built their bridge, and the performance of their bridge.

The second project in the course is the Electrical Design Challenge. The students are split into teams and are supplied with a small motor and a battery to power the motor. The purpose of the challenge is to create a toy powered by this motor within the allotted time. After a prototype has been designed, each team will have to present their project to the rest of the class as if they were trying to sell the validity of their project to fellow engineers.

The third and final project is the Mousetrap Toy Challenge. The purpose of this project is to develop a toy that is powered by a mousetrap spring. The toy must be safe, reliable, rugged, aesthetically pleasing, easily packaged, and have high excitement levels. Each team will present their prototype, along with the merits of the design, the steps taken to choose and implement the design, and the retail price recommendation. The demonstration should be given as a sales meeting, with each group trying to convince their fellow engineers of the merits of their design.