Major Design Experience Research Articles

Incorporating process safety into a Colombian chemical engineering curriculum: A perception study

Process safety is a fundamental part of chemical engineering education and a key learning outcome to prepare generations of responsible and well-rounded engineers for the industry. The lack of courses and methodologies to prepare students with essential process safety training limits their consciousness about accident causes and prevention. It potentially leads to catastrophic and financially devastating events during professional practice. In this work, it was carried out a proposal for teaching process safety embedded within the chemical engineering program at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. The approach to teaching safety was defined as a disseminated curriculum, which consists of establishing a transversal axis of process safety, which includes different learning experiences distributed in key courses of the current curriculum, beginning from the first semester, and concluding in the capstone project as the major design experience. The teaching staff prepared a list of topics and detailed experiences to develop classroom activities and tasks on process safety. Therefore, the implementation was branded as “The moment of safety” to set a culture within the academic community and future engineers. In this work, two surveys were conducted to assess faculty members' perceptions. According to the survey findings, around 81.8 % of the students indicated a level of expectation between high and very high, and 93.9 % valued the methodology proposed for the program as correct. More than 88 % of faculty members evaluate the proposal as appropriate or very appropriate, and 70 % recommend the formulation of a new ABET student outcome for the program related to process safety. These findings emphasize the significance of continuing to work through curricula to build a long-term process safety culture.

Implementation of Integrative Projects as a Contribution to the Major Design Experience in Chemical Engineering

The training of chemical engineers requires creating dynamics that bring them closer to the reality of professional practice and providing active learning experiences to develop skills that strengthen critical thinking, autonomy, teamwork, and communication, as a contribution to sustainable engineering education. However, these experiences are isolated, and sometimes do not show an integrated vision between different areas of knowledge. This work aims to introduce the lessons learned by creating capstone integrative projects as tools for the design and control of processes in the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. The capstone project was developed in randomly selected groups to develop a basic engineering proposal for an industrial process of local or national interest. Validation was carried out, consisting of surveys of 54 students in the last year of the program, an opinion query of 60 recent graduates, and a focus group of five graduates, with a profile of employers, management of innovation, development, and design of chemical processes. Between 2016 and 2020, more than 43 processes were evaluated with students, evidencing a significant improvement in the skills defined by the faculty in the graduation profile. A total of 94% of the graduates in that period recognize the capstone project as an integrator of design and process control, and it is concluded that this contributes positively to the professional development of the chemical engineer.

We Have Standards

Readers at ABET-accredited institutions may be familiar with General Engineering Program Criterion 5, which in part says that the curriculum shall contain “a culminating major engineering design experience that 1) incorporates appropriate engineering standards and multiple constraints[1].” Those of us who teach capstone design generally have little challenge in identifying problems that fully embrace the “multiple constants” part of this criterion, but some folks struggle a bit more with the “standards.” Chemical Engineering isn’t like Electrical, Mechanical, of Civil Engineering, where there are published standards that practically govern your morning tea (or at least the appropriate amperage and pressure of your electric kettle and the construction of the kitchen-cabinets in which the kettle is stored!)

Sustainability awareness in engineering curriculum through a proposed teaching and assessment framework

Engineers play a vital role in enabling the sustainable development of their societies. Thus, it is necessary to teach sustainability in universities, especially for engineering students, for a more sustainable future. The present work aims to measure and enhance engineering students’ awareness of sustainability by monitoring and evaluating learning and student outcomes during the last stages of an engineering curriculum and its culminating major design experience. A questionnaire to assess students’ awareness of sustainability and its tools is implemented. From this empirical study, obstacles to the awareness of sustainability through engineering education are discussed. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire implies the modification of the structure of senior projects and other capstone design courses in order to include a proposed teaching and assessment framework. This framework emphasizes students’ ability to understand and use effective sustainability tools, within the environment of their major design experience. The framework is composed of two paths. The first path concerns course design through which sustainability concepts and methods are included in several course elements. The second path addresses the assessment of the attainment of sustainability objectives by the students.

Application of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in an Interdisciplinary Capstone: The AISC Steel Bridge Competition

Seven West Point Cadets recently competed in the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Steel Bridge Competition for their capstone project. West Point capstones allow cadets to demonstrate their practical, innovative, and hands-on solutions to complex problems, serving as an opportunity to demonstrate characteristics required of Army leaders. For purposes of meeting guidelines established by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the capstone serves as a culminating major engineering design experience in at least two civil engineering contexts. It incorporates engineering standards and allows students to apply knowledge and skills from previous coursework. Historically consisting of all civil engineers, this year’s interdisciplinary Steel Bridge Team included a systems engineer major for the purposes of improved project management. As tomorrow’s leaders are asked to solve complex problems and win in an uncertain tomorrow, the need for graduates to have the skills required to organize chaos, manage risk, establish a schedule and plan, and adapt to change are more important than ever. This paper, organized by the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Process Groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing, documents the implementation of project management principles towards the West Point Steel Bridge Team’s success and their development as future leaders.

Industrially Sponsored Senior Capstone Experience: Program Implementation and Assessment

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) 2000 requires that students participate in a major design experience prior to graduation. A well-planned senior design capstone program will satisfy this criterion while meeting the Criterion 3 (a–k) program outcomes. Seattle University has an industrially sponsored, year-long, senior design program that has been in existence for the past 20 years. In addition to applying the knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to solve a real-life engineering problem, students develop the soft skills such as project management, leadership, team work, written and oral communication, and professional networking which are important for a successful career. This paper describes the program within the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, lists the various tools used to assess the program outcomes, and includes assessment of the program by sponsoring agencies, alumni, and reflection by faculty.

Design versus research in BME accreditation [ABET requirements and why research cannot substitute for design

Is there a difference between design and research? At what point does research become design or design become research? Addressing these questions is much like examining a fine work of art. Examine a painting by a master artist. Look at J the white of a lily such as those found in the painting by Sargent [1]. Can you truly find anything that is just black or white? The fact is there are many colors in the blacks and whites and that the beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. As with art, the definition of design is often in the eye of the engineering professional. If the difference were black or white, the job of an engineering faculty member would be easy. A student understands design or doesn't. There would be no measuring the degrees of understanding. However, as professionals, we have learned that judging a student's ability to design is far more like judging shades of gray. This article explores many of the shades of gray with respect to the differences between design and research and proposes questions that can aid in differentiating between a major design experience and an academic research project.

Standards in Civil Engineering Design Education

In the United States, requirements in the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) engineering criteria provide a strong incentive to integrate engineering codes and standards into civil engineering undergraduate curricula. Under the current criteria, specifically Criterion 4, appropriate engineering standards must be incorporated into the major design experience. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current ABET Engineering Criteria requirements with respect to engineering standards and suggest some ways standards can be included in both the technical and nontechnical portions of undergraduate curricula.

Subcontracting the Senior Design Project in Civil Engineering

The criteria of Engineering Accreditation Commission EAC of the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology ABET state that “students must be prepared for engineering practice through the curriculum culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier course work and incorporating engineering standards and realistic constraints that include most of the following considerations: economics; environment; sustainability; manufacturability; ethical; health and safety; social, and political.” For civil engineering, the program criterion states that “The program must demonstrate that graduates have...the ability to perform civil engineering design by means of design experience integrated throughout the professional component of the curriculum; an understanding of professional practice issues. . . .” The civil engineering program at Minnesota State University, Mankato MSU , was approved by the Minnesota State Universities and Colleges in fall 2000. One of the goals during the development of the program curriculum was to offer students a realistic major design experience that meets ABET criteria. A 2-semester course sequence CIVE 401 and CIVE 402 , for a total of 5 credit hours, was therefore included in the senior year of the curriculum. This senior design course description is not that different from senior design course descriptions found in other civil engineering programs. We believe that the senior design course at MSU is unique in the way that it is organized to integrate the design experience throughout the curriculum and to prepare the graduates to make immediate impact as new engineers. The first two senior design projects completed since the inception of the program were Cargo Facilities Addition at the Mankato Regional Airport completed by five students in 2002–2003, and Pedestrian, Traffic, and Parking Improvement at Minnesota State University, Mankato, completed by four students, in 2003–2004. Despite the small class size, the projects were comprehensive. A team of 11 students worked on the third project, under way as of

Student Design Projects in King Abdulaziz University for Power Engineers

This paper describes samples of practically oriented senior design projects recently incorporated into an undergraduate power systems course at King Abdulaziz University, which have significant positive impact on power engineering education. These projects utilise a personal computer software package that includes transmission line, power flow, short circuit and transient stability computer programs. The senior projects should provide students with a major capstone design experience according to the rules of the engineering accreditation organisation in the USA, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The projects, the way they are utilised and student reaction are all discussed.

ABET Program Criteria: Review and Assessment for a Civil Engineering Program

AbstractRecently, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) sponsored programs to recommend changes for the engineering curriculum. In addition, various other studies, such as that conducted by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), investigated methods to strengthen undergraduate education.The present investigation is based on a study of Lamar University civil engineering undergraduate and graduate students as well as practicing alumni. The findings suggest that all three groups, practicing engineers as well as undergraduate and graduate students, perceive that some subject areas are more important than others. For example, greater than 40% of each group identified four subject areas that presently receive or should receive a high level of coverage in the civil engineering curriculum. They include: mathematics through calculus and differential equations; structural and geotechnical engineering; and major design experience or course. In addition, more than 40% of the undergraduates and practicing engineers also perceive that hydraulics/hydrology/water resources presently receive or should receive a high level of coverage. In contrast, graduate students and practitioners also believe that construction management/surveying, and structural/materials and hydraulics laboratories receive or should receive a high level of coverage. These results suggest strong support for the traditional technical aspect of engineering. In addition, they may be interpreted as positive reinforcement for the Engineering Criteria 2000 program requirements. Nevertheless, all three groups rate professional practice issues at a relatively lower percentage. The foregoing are among the various subjects that have been included in the Civil and Similarly Named Engineering Program Criteria that have been adopted by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as criteria that must be considered in order to satisfy the requirements of an accredited civil engineering degree.

Preparing Students for Engineering Design & Practice

AbstractIn 1995, the American Society of Civil Engineers sponsored an Education Conference to recommend changes for the Civil Engineering educational program. In addition, various other studies, such as that conducted by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), investigated methods to strengthen undergraduate education.The present investigation of Lamar University students and alumni suggests that both practicing engineers and undergraduate/graduate students perceive that 2 design considerations or constraints presently have been and should be incorporated into the engineering design sequence at a high level. They include Engineering Codes and Standards, and Manufacturability (Constructability). In contrast, both students groups and practitioners rate two other design constraints: Social Ramifications, and Political Factors, at a relatively lower score. The foregoing design constraints are among those that have been adopted by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as criteria that should be considered in the major design experience or course in order to satisfy the requirements of an accredited engineering degree.

A SYSTEMS ENGINEERING CAPSTONE DESIGN EXPERIENCE

AbstractWe describe the senior capstone design course in Systems Engineering at the University of Virginia. The capstone course is a major design experience for the students that involves the students in real design problems while working with real clients in order to expose the students to the practice of systems engineering. Working in groups with five or six members, the students apply the systems engineering aspects of systems and decision science, systems management and systems methodology toward open‐ended design problems. Our experience with the program for the first three years has led to considerable success, with numerous capstone groups receiving commendations from clients and the Department of Systems Engineering receiving ABET's first Award for Educational Innovation.