A Comparative Study of Collaborative and Inclusive Skills Development in Capstone Design Teams at Three Different Engineering Institutions

Abstract

Dr. Courtney Pfluger took a position in Fall 2011 as an Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University as a part of the First Year Engineering Faculty and affiliated Faculty in the Chemical Engineering Department. Dr. Pfluger redesigned and piloted the first-year curriculum which included engineering design and computational problem solving using the Engineering Grand Challenges as real-world applications of global issues. She developed and ran for 8 years a faculty-led international program to Brazil focused on Sustainable Energy and Brazilian Culture. This program educates students on the effects of various energy systems and the challenges of social and environmental justice in developing countries. In 2017, Dr. Pfluger moved into the ChE department where she implemented improvements in the Transport 2 Lab and Capstone courses. She assists Capstone students to develop dynamic design projects that address and help solve real-world, global challenges. Dr. Pfluger has served as the AIChE Student Chapter Faculty Advisor for 10 years and will become chair of the AIChE Student Chapter Committee in November 2021. She is a Mathworks Teaching Fellow and has won serval teaching awards such as Northeastern Chemical