Designing a Comprehensive Project for a Junior-level Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Course

Abstract At Montana State University (MSU), the College of Engineering (COE) has approached the ABET Multidisciplinary teaming outcome through the creation of a three-credit junior level engineering design course required by all students in the COE (a total of 11 disciplines). The primary learning objectives of the three-credit single semester course are threefold: to teach engineering design process through active development and creation of an engineering design, so that students are prepared for capstone courses their senior year; to expose students to multidisciplinary teaming, equipping them with teaming, communication, and leadership skills to succeed within this environment; and to give students basic exposure to a variety of project management and development tools. The three topics are linked together in the context of the development of a single design project. In the summer of 2017, the instructional team undertook to change the design project itself. We identified the students as primary stakeholders and our course learning objectives as constraints. We adopted the following problem statement: Multi-disciplinary engineering design students at MSU need a FUN and engaging project as the material taught in the class is highly relevant to the “real world” they are about to enter, and if they can be more engaged in a project they care about, they will perform better in the class. This paper will detail steps taken toward design of the multidisciplinary engineering design project and examine efficacy of the changes made to the course.