A multi-disciplinary model for teaching the engineering product realization process

Team-project based design courses have become popular in undergraduate engineering programs in recent years. These courses help students learn to work in teams, communicate effectively, and apply engineering principles to the product realization process. While the focus of such courses is on teaching sound engineering process methods, students often ignore process in an effort to complete the project thereby negating the pedagogical value of the experience. This paper describes a technique used in Northern Arizona University´s Engineering Path to Synthesis Program to ensure that sound process methods are an integral part of a successful project. This technique involves a high degree of inter-team communication and documentation as well as the use of accepted engineering practices