Northwestern has a new idea.
After years of increasing emphasis on design, the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science has introduced IDEA, the Institute for Design Engineering and Applications, an interdisciplinary, project-based program in engineering design.
Recent hands-on design projects for engineering students include the remodeling of Tech Express, but students in classes such as Engineering Design and Communication have been doing large-scale projects since 1996.
Such projects enhance teaching, said Stephen Carr, associate dean for undergraduate engineering at McCormick.
“Our focus is not on teaching but on the students learning,” Carr said. “To make sure they are taking in (the information being taught), we do projects.”
But having a program designated specifically for design is something new, an idea that evolved as educators realized students needed opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to the real world in order to be good engineers.
“IDEA wouldn’t have formed if we had not really gotten there, in terms of recognizing design as a kind of intellectual activity,” said Carr.
Through IDEA students can earn a degree in manufacturing engineering or an engineering design certificate to supplement their major.
As part of its curriculum, IDEA is developing a project that students will work on over the course of three years to integrate different aspects of the engineering program. Possible projects include NUmobility, where students will design new methods of fuel-efficient transportation.
The new program will be housed in the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Studio, a six-story design engineering facility to be completed Winter Quarter 2005.
Other universities also are concentrating more on design. University of Iowa Prof. Ralph Stephens implemented five courses based around auto racing for his mechanical engineering students. And the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign features interdisciplinary design courses, home to projects such as student-designed satellites, and the University of Illinois at Chicago boasts a group of students who participate in robotics competitions.
But NU is unique in that it is the only school to offer a four-year design engineering program for undergraduate students, Carr said.
Phillip Jacob, an engineering and design communication program assistant, said participating in IDEA will help students after they graduate from NU.
“What IDEA is trying to prepare students for is collaborative learning with different people in different parts of the industry,” he said. “This is something they will have to do in the work force.”
Some McCormick students said they are enjoying the opportunity to implement their ideas in the real world.
“Practical programs we do put us at an advantage compared to other students who don’t get that type of real world experience,” said Dan Saddawi-Konefka, a McCormick senior.
IDEA complements the general engineering curriculum, which begins emphasizing design in the freshman year. Through the Engineering First program, all freshmen learn MATLAB, a computer language, and do hands-on projects such as Web site design. During their senior year, all engineering students complete a capstone design project and compete for a cash prize.
McCormick Dean John Birge said he is pleased with the direction of the engineering curriculum.
“We have emphasized design because a lot of what we think people bring to the process of engineering is creativity,” Birge said. “It was an area where we had some expertise and we felt the students were interested in it too.”
