Introducing Electromechanical Folk Art In Engineering Technology Programs

This paper presents the preliminary steps taken to introduce a course in Electromechanical Folk Art. The paper discusses the introduction of the idea to senior students enrolled in the Computer Engineering Technology Program at the University of Houston. The presentation included a 10-minute narrated slide show, highlighting the reasoning behind the proposed course, a demonstration of several electromechanical folk art gadgets developed by the author in support of the course, and a short survey completed by all students to assess the proposal’s feasibility. This paper also describes compilation and analysis of the surveys, the process by which support for the idea was secured from colleagues, the department chair, and the college dean, and other potential benefits of offering this course.