Interdisciplinary Design Course Structure: Lessons for Engineering Instructors from a Capstone Design Course

An interdisciplinary design approach is a collaborative effort involving team members from different engineering disciplines to solve a problem. An opportunity for interdisciplinary education exists in the fourth year capstone design project. Interdisciplinary capstone courses are offered at other Canadian universities but, at the University of Waterloo (UW) the co-operative undergraduate engineering program poses a logistical barrier to students interacting with students in other disciplines for capstone design projects. Currently, students can form their own interdisciplinary team but differences in course structure, project deliverables, and design terminology and method between engineering disciplines is challenging for students and instructors. An investigation into the feasibility of a new interdisciplinary capstone design course at UW is undertaken. A possible home for the interdisciplinary capstone course could be under the Chair of Design Engineering. Overall, receptivity among departments is positive but a more comprehensive analysis is required.

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EXPERIENCES AND PROPOSALS FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY ENGINEERING DESIGN COURSES

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3945 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Pouyan Jazayeri ◽

William (Bill) Rosehard ◽

David Westwick

Keyword(s):

Engineering Design ◽

Group Structure ◽

Structure Design ◽

Course Structure ◽

Interdisciplinary Design ◽

University Of Calgary ◽

Design Projects ◽

The University ◽

Academic Year ◽

Equal Contribution

This paper presents some of the experiences gained from the interdisciplinary design course offered at the university of Calgary in the 2004-2005 academic year. It also provides a few proposals and recommendations to improve the course (or similar versions) in the future. The components of the course—lecture content, group structure, design projects, and general course structure—are analyzed and some of the challenges—equal contribution from members, scheduling, grading, and more— are described in this paper. The approaches used in overcoming these problems, along with further suggestions, are also detailed.

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Teaching Design in Context

Volume 9: Engineering Education and Professional Development ◽

10.1115/imece2008-69214 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Daisie Boettner ◽

Lynn K. Byers ◽

Bobby G. Crawford ◽

Gunnar Tamm ◽

John Rogers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Design Process ◽

Mechanical Engineering ◽

The United States ◽

Just In Time ◽

Team Members ◽

Course Structure ◽

Design Projects ◽

Class Ring ◽

Formal Design ◽

Capstone Design

As a result of recent curriculum revisions, the mechanical engineering faculty at the United States Military Academy teaches the formal design process “just in time” for students to apply the process to their capstone design projects. The design process consists of several phases and incorporates many engineering tools. During the initial offering of the course, Mechanical Engineering Design, instructors assigned students to capstone design teams early in the course. As the instructor taught the design process, team members applied the concepts to their capstone project. Based on instructors’ and students’ feedback, faculty revised the course structure to teach the design process in the context of a simple, in-class design project (design a portable illumination device) during the first half-semester. All in-class exercises were collaborative, hands-on experiences based on the project. To reinforce topics introduced in class and ensure all students develop a firm foundation in the design process, a separate common customer need (a device to store a West Point class ring) was the focus of all individual homework. Each student developed a design, built a prototype, and wrote an individual design report. Subsequent to formal design process instruction, students formed capstone teams and began their one and one-half semester capstone design projects. Results indicate that students more thoroughly understood the design process and its associated engineering tools allowing capstone teams to progress more efficiently through conceptual design; order parts, build prototypes, and test prototypes much earlier than the previous year; and enjoy a successful capstone experience.

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