Linking Senior Design Projects To Research Projects

Abstract

Senior design projects form an important capstone for most engineering disciplines and must consist of the realistic application of the engineering design process. Some senior engineering students would like the opportunity to participate in research projects, but cannot give the time to perform research and participate in a senior design project. The authors have served as either faculty or students in combined research and design projects for several years, and have made several observations about this combined approach. Many research projects offer the opportunity to perform engineering design although recognition of this fact is sometimes overlooked by faculty. Some general cases where design may be needed in a research problem include: design of an experimental system, engineering software design, and design of a process to manufacture experimental test pieces. Once a design aspect of a research project has been identified, the faculty member that will oversee the design project should carefully consider how the project will require the design process, whether multiple alternative designs will be considered, and in what way will the project satisfy multiple realistic constraints. Students in the design group may already be working on the research project and it has to be clear to these students that they will be doing two projects: the research project and the design project. Use of a design proposal that is signed by the faculty member and students can aid in making sure that all involved, faculty and students, know how the project will meet the research program's and ABET's expectations in terms of design. Our experiences with combined research / senior design projects are discussed in this paper.

A culminating senior design capstone project on a residential building in engineering education

“…In addition to the aforementioned design, cost analyses, and LEED considerations for the building, another significant objective to have been fulfilled from this research undertaking was for the team of student researchers to have gained an educational introspection from their various interactions with faculty, industry professionals, and collaborations between their fellow classmates. Evan et al [9] assert the importance of faculty guiding students, as in a senior design class, on research undertakings with an educational bent for producing more well-rounded engineers in the future. The research was conducted through a series of presentations prepared by student teams to teach their classmates about the various aspects of design: from architectural to structural plans, to LEED considerations and its affects towards the overall longevity of such buildings.…”

“…Through the use of research, students who have already completed their undergraduate studies are able to further develop their knowledge of realworld applications within engineering. Lemley et al [1] emphasized the importance of recognizing design aspects within research projects and provided examples of research projects that can incorporate engineering design. Incorporating LEED features and conducting a detailed cost analysis enabled the student researchers a view into the benefits of proposing a green building design versus a more traditional approach.…”

Introducing undergraduate research in Numerical Analysis of Engineering Systems course

“…Co-curricular activities include summer research fellowships funded by industry, faculty research projects or national agencies such as NASA 5 and NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site programs; 6 and independent research based on faculty research topics. 5 Curricular activities include special courses created specifically to introduce students to UR through problem-based learning activities and hands-on experiments; 7,8 engineering clinics centered around industry projects; 9 research-based Senior Design Projects (SDPs); 5,10 and research-based course projects. 11…”