Engr114 Whole Earth Engineering[edit | edit source]
- Project
- Any hands on, or research based, sustainability project. Perceived success or failure of the project outcome does not affect final grade. Past examples include grade school vermiculture, cob ovens, bicycle powered tools, bike trailers, promoting organic food on campus, thermal curtains, etc.
- Client
- Client/Mentors are selected by the instructor based upon their appropriateness and given preference in the following order (most to least): Government organization, non-profit organization, school organization, local business, local group, residents with large community exposure, residents.
- Clients, selected by the instructor, pitch their own projects to the class and are picked by the students. Clients understand that the more they work with the students the better their project will be, and make a minimum commitment of two meetings with their team. Some teams choose to work for themselves.
- Team
- Students work in teams of three to eight students, each team with their own client or none at all.
- Project documentation
- Each student writes a one page response to their project.
- Other coursework: Other coursework includes very short write-ups based upon course lectures, discussion and fieldtrips, and eight hours of labor on any sustainability project.
Engr215 Introduction to Design[edit | edit source]
- Project
- A project with an open design problem that provides students an opportunity to take part in Problem definition, Literature review, Problem analysis, Alternative solution generation, Decision processes and analysis, and Construction and testing. Design projects with some hands on construction components are given preference over purely research projects. Past examples include renewable energy toy installations at a children’s museum, energy conservation displays at the energy authority and experimental construction models for a non-profit.
- Client
- The client/project is selected by the instructor based upon the pedagogical potential and given preference in the following order (most to least): Government organization, non-profit organization, school organization, local business.
- Clients understand that the more they work with the students the better their project will be, and make a minimum commitment of three meetings with the entire course, two meetings with each team, two meetings with the instructor and responding to semiweekly emails. Clients often supply some money for each team and coordinate the end of semester press event.
- Team
- Students work in teams of three to four students picked by the instructor, each team sharing the same client. Each team spends around 180 hours and a maximum of $75/student plus whatever the client supplies.
- Project documentation
- Each team writes an approximately 50 page technical paper that documents:
- each stage of their design process including testing and conclusions
- teamwork, brainstorming and decision making processes
- total time and costs, in addition to maintenance and implementation instructions
- Each document section is reviewed and returned for editing of the final document.
- Other coursework
- The students are under a constant barrage of assignments. Most meant to directly support their projects. Assignments such as peer evaluation, ethics discussions, team work exercises, formatting and spreadsheet tasks, autoCAD drawing, etc. make up a significant portion of other coursework.
Engineering 308, Technology and the Environment[edit | edit source]
- Project
- Projects that allow students to use excel to create dynamic judgments or comparisons of specific technology based upon explicit quantified data. Future projects could include comparing paper cup use versus ceramic cups, hybrid versus SUV use, CFL versus incandescent, various building materials, etc.
- Client
- Clients are selected by the instructor based upon the clearness of their question and its impact on decisions at the intersection of technology and the environment. Clients are given preference in the following order (most to least): Local business, non-profit organization, government organization, local group, school organization, citizens.
- Clients understand that the more they work with the students the better their project will be, and make a minimum commitment of four meetings with their team. Some teams choose to work for themselves.
- Teams
- Students work in teams of four or five.
- Project documentation
- Teams construct a working spreadsheet of their analysis and write:
- Instructions on how to use their worksheet
- Justification of values
- Conclusions based upon their analysis
- Other coursework
- Coursework revolves around dimensional analysis, working with Excel, quantifying information, making back of the envelop calculations based upon known values, and critical thinking.
Caveat[edit | edit source]
These all need to be updated. :)