Themed Sections of EDC for Spring 2009

Several sections of 2009 SQ EDC will offer projects that are related to a particular field and go deeper into the process of design and analysis. These special sections will allow you and your instructors more flexibility to focus the project efforts on selected parts or alternative views of the design process. Also, since the projects are related to a specific area of study, more depth of analysis in that field of study will be brought to bear on the design.

Themed Sections for SQ 2009

Section 8: Nanotechnology Education Projects - Section 8, TTH 12:00 Hirsch/Chang

Students will be learning fundamental nanotechnology concepts and then designing games and other educational activities to bring these concepts in an exciting but accurate way to middle school students. This is challenging because it’s hard to learn about things that are too small to see. As a result, it’s easy for students to develop misconceptions that interfere with the correct understanding of science at the nanoscale. To help address these misconceptions, teams will work with a middle school teacher and his or her students to create, test and refine hands-on activities or simulations that will be used in conjunction with a larger educational curriculum. Flyer

Section 9: Global Development Projects - Section 9, TTH 12:00 Yarnoff/Fitzpatrick

This is a pilot program that features real EDC level engineering projects from real, everyday people in Uganda. It will give students the opportunity to engage with issues pertaining to rural development and appropriate technology in the developing world. Projects will deal with issues from water purification to irrigation and rural enterprise development. More

Section 19: Mechanical Engineering Analysis Projects - Section 19, WF 2:30 Bishop/Neumeyer

These projects will be mechanical design projects, similar to other EDC projects; however, additional emphasis will be put on mechanical/statistical analysis. Somewhat less emphasis will be put on user testing and more emphasis will be put on mechanical analysis and laboratory testing. Example projects include, a braking system for roller skates, and a toy based on a mechanism in nature.