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Multidisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design: Successful Implementation at a Regional Hispanic-Serving Institution

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Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering Design I

Tagged Division

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--33130

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/33130

Download Count

361

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Paper Authors

biography

Breanna M. W. Bailey Texas A&M University-Kingsville

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I am a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. I have been employed at Texas A&M University-Kingsville since 2006. I am currently serving as the interim chair for the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering.

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Abstract

This paper discusses the creation and first offerings of a multi-disciplinary senior design project course sequence. The courses, Multi-Disciplinary Engineering Design I and II (GEEN 4301 and 4302) were created as part of the supporting activities for an NSF-STEM grant entitled: “Javelina Engineers STEM Scholarships: Building the Pathway for Baccalaureate to Masters Degrees,” or the JESS Program.

The over-arching JESS Program goal was to identify academically talented undergraduate students from across all disciplines offered at the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering (COE) at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) and provide mentoring and opportunities to assist these students in pursuing graduate degrees. The capstone senior design experience was selected as a major cohort building experience for students in the JESS program since it was a common requirement of most undergraduate majors in the COE. TAMUK offers six EAC of ABET-accredited engineering programs; one CAC of ABET-accredited computer science program; and one ATMAE-accredited program in industrial management and technology.

The breadth of undergraduate programs provided unique challenges in creating a senior design course sequence that would satisfy all parties concerned. Course creation ultimately went through a review process by experienced senior design faculty as well as a review by the department chairs. This cooperative effort helped determine appropriate prerequisites, course outcomes, and course contents. Assessment of student learning to fulfill accreditation requirements was aligned with existing college-wide techniques.

Efforts to deliver a multi-disciplinary engineering design senior course sequence began in the 2015-2016 academic year and continued through the 2017-2018 academic year. The 2015-2016 cohort integrated students from multiple majors on an extra-curricular basis; students took on an additional design experience that supplemented their required course or worked with students enrolled in other classes. In 2016-2017, the senior design course sequence was taught as a selected topics class because of the rigorousness of the course creation process (discussed above). In 2017-2018, GEEN 4301 and 4302 were offered for the first time.

This paper will provide perspectives on what did and did not work during the course creation and early course offerings both from an administrative and classroom perspective. Additionally, several of the early course projects will be discussed to provide guidance for other faculty wishing to implement multi-disciplinary senior design.

Bailey, B. M. W. (2019, June), Multidisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design: Successful Implementation at a Regional Hispanic-Serving Institution Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33130

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