P a g e 4 4 4 5 1 Session 3225REDESIGNING THEFIRST YEAR ENGINEERING CURRICULUMRichard B Cole Bernard Gallois Keith SheppardCharles V Schaefer Jr School of EngineeringStevens Institute of TechnologyHoboken New Jersey 07030Stevens engineering curriculum has been revised and part of this revision introduces engineer ing activities into the first semester via 3 concurrent engineering courses This semester had pre viously consisted entirely of science and humanities courses Now the first semester includes Engineering Graphics 2 credit laboratory Engineering Seminar 1 credit and Engineering De sign Laboratory I 1 credit laboratory The major goal of these activities in the first semester is to provide the students an early bondingwith engineering and its style and task orientation as distinguished from science They are aimedat initiating development of competencies that will build through subsequent design experiences 1 Ability to design a system component or process to meet desired needs2 Ability to function effectively on multidisciplinary teams3 Ability to identify formulate and assess alternative technical and economic solutions to en gineering problems 4 Ability to communicate effectively and persuasively both in writing and orally 5 Ability to use the techniques skills and modern engineering tools necessary for engineeringpractice6 Skill in leadershipIntegration of Engineering CoursesStevens new engineering curriculum puts high priority on at least some integration among dif ferent courses While very tight integration is not necessarily a goal interplay between differentcourses is required to be conscious recognizable and representative of the mutual interdepend ence that exists among different engineering subjects In the first semester opportunities exist for integration of the several engineering courses Thereis also potential for integration with the concurrent science courses particularly the Introductionto Computers course Computer Science Dept and the first semester of Physics which treatsmechanics The major integration in Fall 1998 was between Engineering Graphics and Engi neering Design Laboratory I Integration of the Engineering Design and Engineering Graphics courses was in 4 respects First freehand technical sketching a frequent component of graphics courses was undertaken inthe Design Course as a natural functional component of a product dissection workshop P a g e 4 4 4 5 2 Sketching was not significantly dealt with in the Graphics course itself Second as part of the product dissection workshop hardware a cordless screwdriver was re lated to actual working drawings from the manufacturer1 In this workshop students were re quired to work with different types of working drawings part subassembly and assemblydrawings standard parts parts list in order to find out about materials dimensions etc of theproduct being dissected Third tolerancing was dealt with in the Design course before a more extensive treatment in theGraphics course A concern for the stacking of tolerances was introduced just in time Thissupported the requirement that the first project a name plate or logo should be mountable onthe vehicle chassis of Project 2 this required design of the mounting hole or slot sizes to allowassembly Finally and most significantly Project 1 see below was designed in the Graphics Laboratoryand executed in the Design Laboratory with some of the database processing required for pro duction on CNC machines having been carried out in the Graphics LaboratoryIn addition some integration of the Design Laboratory with the Engineering Seminar for first year students was possible The Seminar course allows fairly rapid feedback of student com ments in the Seminar to instructors in other courses Fortunately feedback concerning the De sign course and Graphics courses was positive and did not indicate a need for remediation Thiswas not the case in at least one science course taken by the first semester engineering students ENGINEERING DESIGN LABORATORY IOverviewThe design course E 121 Engineering Design Laboratory I is a 1 credit course offered to allengineering students in their first semester It is the first in a series of one per semester designlaboratories constituting a Design Spine running through all eight semesters These designlaboratories are each integrated more or less with other concurrent courses required of all engi neering students The first semester course meets for 3 hours per week and as a 1 credit labo ratory course is not intended to require work by students outside of the laboratory periods Thecourse was offered for the first time as part of the initiation of Stevens new engineering cur riculum in the Fall of 1998 As formulated by a faculty committee dealing with design content in the engineering curricu lum Engineering Design Laboratory I is intended to Provide an interesting early hands on experience in engineering Create an integrated link to engineering graphics Introduce and practice the engineering method Introduce the student to professional practice topics including effective groupskills project management and basic economic analysis This course is intended to introduce students to the process of design and seeks to engage theirenthusiasm for engineering from the very beginning of the program The engineering method is 1 Kindly provided by Black Decker U S Inc Towson Maryland P a g e 4 4 4 5 3 used in the design and manufacture of a product Product dissection is exploited to evaluate howothers have solved design problems Development of competencies in professional practicetopics is started primarily effective group participation project management engineering eco nomics and communication skills These competencies are developed throughout the design course sequence Format and SupportEach class session of which there are 6 throughout the week includes two 24 student sectionseach of which has an instructor who is an adjunct faculty member and an undergraduate peer teaching assistant In addition a course coordinator regular faculty and a graduate teaching as sistant offer planning and support for the instructors as do an Associate Dean of Engineering andthe Dean himself during the course development phase An Engineering Technical Servicesgroup provides support via design and construction of support equipment The Head InstituteMachinist provides an introduction to machine shop practice The content of the course is in the form of two projects and associated skills