Idaho Engineering Works: a model for leadership development in design education

This paper describes how the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Idaho (USA) established its innovative model for developing leadership skills among graduate student mentors, senior design students and even faculty. The increasing importance and complexity of their industry-sponsored projects in their capstone design curriculum motivated the model. Traditionally, leadership for capstone design classes comes from a senior faculty member responsible for the entire class. However, this does not equip students with the necessary human dynamics skills. The Idaho Engineering Works (IEWorks) model makes use of a continuous cycle of peep-to-peer training, customer communication, ongoing dialogue about personal/professional development, and commitment to excellence in the context of an engineering project. The result has been an increase in both the quality of the students´ experience and in the products that have been developed. Their goal now is to expand this improvement cycle, to implement their capstone design laboratory (CDWorks), to enhance departmental preparation for ABET 2000, and to organize interdisciplinary design projects with other departments in the college.