Integrated Engineering Design Education: Vertical and Lateral Learning

Abstract

Engineering design has gone through several changes during the last two decades, attributed to the technological advancements, globalization, economic constraints and environmental regulations. Currently, high percentage of the engineering graduates require extensive training to attain reliable designs, creating a great challenge without the educational support in such rapidly changing economy. Attention has been devoted in the recent years to consolidate design courses by team design and capstone projects. Nevertheless, the lack of integrated engineering design education can undermine the benefits of such efforts. In this paper, an overview of innovative engineering design educational process is discussed, supplemented by observations and analysis of the engineering design challenges from both academia and industry. An integrated engineering design education system is presented in which vertical and lateral learning can be achieved to narrow the gap between academia and industry. The program structure covers all years of the engineering education curricula, with emphasis on innovative thinking, design strategies, integration with other technical engineering courses, the use of advanced analysis tools, team collaboration, management and leadership, multidisciplinary education and industrial involvement. This program has just commenced for freshmen engineering students at the newly launched Mechanical Engineering Department at the Lassonde School of Engineering, York University.