Chico. He previously taught in the Engineering Technology department at UNC Charlotte and the Engineering Technologies Division at Central Piedmont Community College. He also has nine years of industrial work experience.
The mechanical engineering program at California State University Chico utilizes a twosemester capstone course in senior design project. It is required that students perform the project work in groups, as that is a measured outcome in the course. Assigning students to groups has long been problematic, with no satisfactory solution despite numerous attempted methodologies. A new paradigm for the assignment of student groups was implemented in the fall of 2007. Typical design team roles were identified based on Belbin's research into the deliberation process. Students were asked to identify their preferred roles on a design team, as well as their preferred projects to work on. Projects teams were then formed by the faculty using the information supplied by the students. This paper details the process of team selection and the measures taken to assess its effectiveness. It summarizes the overall success of the paradigm, and provides suggestions for future use. Overview of Senior Design Project As with many engineering programs, the mechanical engineering curriculum at California State University Chico utilizes a two-semester capstone course in senior design project. The intent is for students to utilize competencies developed in the first three years of the curriculum in the solution of a real-world design problem. The fall semester is predominantly spent in design activities, while the spring encompasses prototype building and testing. Projects may come from local industry, may be competition based, or may come from other sources. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Comments: 7. Role preference should be used as the first criteria when assembling project teams, rather than project choice.
received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, a Master of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UNC Charlotte. He has taught in the Engineering Technology department at UNC Charlotte for the past 3.5 years. He taught in the Engineering Technologies Division at Central Piedmont Community College for 8 years and has 9 years of industrial work experience. Michael Smith, University of North Carolina-Charlotte Michael Smith is a Mechanical Engineering graduate student at UNC Charlotte. He received his BSET in Mechanical Engineering Technology from UNC Charlotte in May 2005. He served as project team leader for the 2005 HPV Challenge.
Chico. He previously taught in the Engineering Technology department at UNC Charlotte and the Engineering Technologies Division at Central Piedmont Community College. He also has nine years of industrial work experience.
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