B.4. Professional Component (Criterion 4)

B.4.1.1 Mathematics

The curriculum includes one-half year of mathematics: Math 165, 166, 265, and 266

B.4.1.2 Basic Sciences

The curriculum includes one-half year of science: Chemistry 167; Physics 221, 222

B.4.1.3 Engineering Topics

Introduction to engineering topics begins in freshman year with an introduction to engineering problem solving (Engr 161). Course requirements in basic engineering cover the following topics: mechanics (covered in EM 301), engineering economy (IE 305), C programming (Engr 161), thermodynamics (ME 330), electrical circuits (EE 441), and materials (MatE 271). The core departmental course requirements concentrate on industrial engineering topics. Finally, several electives are available for students which supplement and enhance engineering topics contained in the required IE core.

B.4.1.4 General Education

A total of eight courses are devoted to general (non-technical) education. Four courses selected from approved lists in humanities and social sciences (SSH), two courses in basic written and grammatical English (Engl 104, 105), and two courses in communication. Within the four course SSH requirement, students must take at least two courses at the 200-level or above, must include a two-course sequence, and must meet University requirements in the areas of diversity and international perspective. One of the goals of the university is to prepare students to meet the challenges of responsible citizenship and effective professional roles in a culturally diverse global community. To help meet the goal, the university requires that students complete a three-credit course from both the approved U.S. diversity and the international perspectives lists approved by the Faculty Senate. Students may be excused from the course requirement if they have had living or working experience that may meet the expected outcomes from course enrollment. Students requesting waiver of the course requirement must have the recommendation of their adviser, approval of the college officer responsible for review and in most cases the approval of the provost.

To further prepare our students to perform well when employed, two communication courses are required: technical writing (covered in Engl 314) and speech communications (either SpCom 212 or ComSt 214).

We thus feel that all professional component topics are given adequate attention in specific courses.

Students are prepared for engineering practice beginning with their freshman year. All freshmen are required to take Engr 161: Engineering Problem Solving. In this course, students are introduced to the principles of engineering design, practice, and engineering problem solving as well as writing and presentation of technical reports. Students not only design simple engineering systems, but in some cases also make and test prototypes. They work in teams thus gaining experience in teamwork and leadership.

The design experiences are further built through projects, case studies and the like in upper level IE courses. Almost every junior and senior level IE course has a substantial design component.

In some courses, for example IE 361 (Statistical Methods for Quality Improvement) and IE 441 (Industrial Engineering Design), industrial clients sponsor the projects. Thus students are exposed to real-world engineering practice in their regular course work.

These design and engineering practice experiences culminate in a senior capstone design course (IE 441) required of all students. In IE 441 student teams work on real-world industrial engineering design problems provided by industrial clients. The initial portion of IE 441 is devoted to instruction in various skills needed for doing engineering projects, e.g., problem solving tools, report writing, etc. The following provides a typical sequence of events for our Senior Capstone Design course:

1. Two months before semester begins: Initial contact with industrial partner made. Ideas for projects are generated. The projects are intended to be actual design problems that will fulfill needs of the industrial partner. Faculty member makes one or two trips to the industrial partner for these discussions. This also provides the faculty member the opportunity to become familiar with the facility.
2. Two weeks before semester begins: Faculty member and teaching assistants visit the facility. During this visit the list of projects is finalized. The teaching assistants are able to become familiar with the facilities and the projects. At this time points of contacts for each team of students are identified (if possible the points of contact are engineers).
3. Week one of semester: students are introduced to the course and the projects that they will be working on. The students choose their group of four (or three) classmates to work with on the project. By the end of the 1st week the teams are assigned individual projects.
4. Week two of semester: entire class is taken to the industrial partner’s facility for a tour. The teams are introduced to their point of contact and initial discussions about the projects begin.
5. After the initial visit to the industrial partner’s facility, each team works with its point of contact to prepare a written proposal for their project. This includes objectives/intended benefits, a statement of work (how the students plan on approaching the stated objectives), tools that will be used, a schedule, etc.
6. Oral Proposal: this is an oral report of the written proposal.
7. Week six of semester (Formal Milestone Briefing I): about 6 weeks into the semester, students meet formally with faculty and TAs to discuss their progress on the project. They also turn in a written progress report. The teams are required to maintain a design journal, and this is examined at this time.
8. Week 10 of semester (Formal Milestone Briefing II): about 10 weeks into the semester, students again meet formally with faculty and TAs to discuss their progress on the project. They again turn in a written progress report and the team’s design journal.
9. Final Written Project Report: the final written report is due in the 14th week of the semester.
10. Final Oral Project Report: the final oral project report is given during the 15th week of the semester. Each oral report is attended by representatives from the industrial partner as well as faculty and TAs.
11. There is a scheduled 50 minute meeting with the entire class each Monday during the semester. This time is used, as necessary, to discuss relative topics for the particular project of that semester. It is also used as an opportunity for the students to ask questions about the project, etc. There are also two lab sessions each week, each 3 hours in duration. The students use this time to work on their projects, interact with the TAs and faculty, and make visits to the industrial partner. Each team is expected to make at least 5 visits to the industrial partner during the semester.

With the assistance of Industrial Partner we select the "Outstanding Senior Design Project" (both first and second place). The names of the students of the winning team are placed on a plaque that is displayed outside the department office. Both the 1st and 2nd place teams receive a small cash award from the industrial partner.

Recent companies that have served as industrial partners:

Ford Motor Company

Motorola

Bridgestone/Firestone

Frigidaire

Donaldson Company

RR Donnelly Printing Company

Ryko Manufacturing

Bunn-O-Matic

SteelWorks, Inc.

Gunder Church Furniture

The Wittern Group

Bazooka/Farmstar

Maytag Corporation

John Deere

Sauer-Sundstrand

Johnson Machine Works

Course grade is based on:

Written Proposal

Oral Proposal

Milestones I and II

Final written project report

Final oral project report

Peer evaluations

Additionally, a valuable part of providing students with experiences in professional practice is the coop and internship program, in which a large number of our students take part. Students, as well, are provided opportunities to develop leadership skills through team projects in many of our required courses.