Incorporating project engineering and professional practice into the major design experience

The culminating major design experience is a critical element in students´ preparation for professional practice. Large, diverse programs face significant challenges in providing sufficient and appropriate design opportunities that incorporate a wide range of issues and constraints, as required by Engineering Criteria 2000. With the switch from quarters to semesters in 1999, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech introduced a new, major design experience that addresses these limitations. All electrical engineering and computer engineering seniors complete a new course, Project Engineering and Professional Practice, followed by a specialized team-based design project. This new course, using a combination of lectures and interactive recitations, includes topics related to design methods, project management, teaming, engineering economics, ethics, risks, and professional issues. A formal paper and multiple presentations develop communication skills and provide a lead-in to the team project in the follow-on course. This paper describes the new course, emphasizing the unique elements, and summarizes initial assessment results