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The Design Experience
Design is an essential element of engineering. Project management is what makes a good design become a prototype and ultimately a tool that works.
B.E. students take a two-course sequence in engineering design and project management. Working in teams of 3 or 4, they choose projects that industries have submitted to Thayer School's Cook Engineering Design Center (CEDC).
Engineering Design Methodology
In the design sequence (ENGS 190/290), students select a problem and collaborate with their industry sponsor to solve it. The entire process, which covers two 10-week terms, involves all the elements of the design process from problem definition to the industry application and includes feasibility studies, economic analysis, and often an environmental impact study.
Lectures by experts on entrepreneurship, ethics, and legal issues are part of each course. At the end of each term, students practice their presentation skills before a review board of engineering professionals.
The final product—a hardware prototype or a software program or a manufacturing process—is delivered to the industry partner at the end of the second term.
Recent ENGS 190/290 projects demonstrate the range of possibilities for student work.