Board 137: WIP: Engaging Mechanical Engineering Students in Projects of Caring: Socially and Environmentally Responsible Projects that Go out into the Public Domain

Vincent Nguyen; Elisabeth Smela

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Mechanical Engineering Division (MECH)
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42457
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/42457
Download Count: 150

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Paper Authors

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Vincent Nguyen University of Maryland College Park

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Vincent P. Nguyen is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a founding member of the Environmental and Socially Responsible Engineering (ESRE) group who work to integrate and track conscientious engineering aspects throughout the undergraduate educational experience across the college. His efforts include formally integrating sustainability design requirements into the mechanical engineering capstone projects, introducing non-profit partnerships related to designs for persons with disabilities, and founding the Social/Environmental Design Impact Award. He manages several outreach and diversity efforts including the large-scale Get Out And Learn (GOAL) engineering kit program that reaches thousands of local K-12 students.

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biography

Elisabeth Smela University of Maryland College Park orcid.org/0000-0003-3921-2265

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Received a BS in physics from MIT and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Worked at Linköping University in Sweden and then Risø National Laboratory in Denmark as a research scientist before joining Santa Fe Science and Technology as the Vice President for Research and Development. Joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland in 2000. Served as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Diversity Officer, and Equity Administrator for the Engineering School, then as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State in 2019. Her research focuses on sensors, combining organic materials, including polymers and biological cells, with conventional devices.

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Abstract

This paper discusses the piloting of a new undergraduate course, Entrepreneurial Design Realization, in the Engineering School at University of Maryland (UMD) over three semesters. This course is specifically aimed at tackling socially or environmentally responsible projects that include real deliverables that go out into the public domain. The course was originally conceived as a capstone followup where top viable projects with positive impact could be followed up with real opportunities for implementation. The course was developed as a part of a broader effort from the newly formed Environmentally and Socially Responsible Engineering group which aims to develop empowered, socially and environmentally responsible engineering graduates.

The student empowerment and agency arises from opportunities for real do-ing as a part of the undergraduate educational experience, with the ultimate goal of a product or service reaching the public domain. This intrinsically necessitates multidisciplinary approaches that merge engineering with other disciplines. Social entrepreneurial aspects are inherent to all of the projects, with a necessity to demonstrate positive impact in order to pitch for funding or support. Three projects have been tackled: a commercial oyster farming product with a prototype delivered to an affiliate research institution, an engineering outreach kit redesign for K-12 with over 4000 units delivered, and a therapy playground co-developed with the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences in another college.

Discussed are the lessons learned in the process so far. These include: failures to recruit non-engineering students despite partnerships across campus, challenges in selecting projects that fit within the framework of an academic course structure, student successes and challenges, the existing funding structure and the challenges of developing this aspect within the course, and finally future directions and plans to continue the effort.

Citation
Format

Nguyen, V., & Smela, E. (2023, June), Board 137: WIP: Engaging Mechanical Engineering Students in Projects of Caring: Socially and Environmentally Responsible Projects that Go out into the Public Domain Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42457