Semester-Long Team Project Integrating Materials and Mechanics Concepts

Abstract

The Madison Engineering Department is an undergraduate non-discipline specific engineering program. The program maintains the university-wide liberal arts core and blends engineering science fundamentals with sustainable design to integrate environmental, social, economic, and technical contexts plus systems thinking within the academic experience. Madison Engineering is dedicated to the development of engineering versatilists who can readily integrate knowledge from historically different fields of engineering. In support of this development, several courses within the curriculum integrate topics to provide space for future engineers to not be constrained by disciplinary boundaries but demonstrate the ability to adapt and work across disciplines within team atmospheres. The focus of this paper is on a course project that integrates concepts from the traditional content of stand-alone courses (materials science and mechanics of materials) via a semester long design project in which students must incorporate knowledge of both sets of content. Semester-Long Team Project Integrating Materials and Mechanics Concepts