A multidisciplinary design experience that addresses several ABET outcomes also provides a framework for international student collaboration

The faculty at Western New England College in the industrial engineering and biomedical engineering departments have developed a multidisciplinary laboratory design experience that integrates several ABET outcomes and serves to prepare students for the capstone senior design project. The ABET Outcomes addressed include c, d, e, f, g, and h, however others could be incorporated depending on the project. In addition, this experience serves to reinforce design concepts learned in previous courses and requires the students to develop real-world prototypes for implementation. The specific projects focus on designing and developing assistive technologies for disabled individuals employed at not-for-profit agencies. The devices provide the individuals with increased accessibility to employment opportunities. The students employ a variety of design tools including Manhattan, a web-based forum for sharing designs and communication. Recent projects in the area of manual work have included box folding, screw packaging, tape cutting, and folder assembly. The projects are successful in several ways. The students gain valuable interdisciplinary design experience, the not-for-profit agency gains needed assistance in their production, and the individuals with disabilities become more productive employees. This design experience provides a framework for emulating a modern product development environment with participating team members located at different universities around the world.