First-Year Design Experience: Assembling the “Big Picture” Through Innovative Product Design

novel solutions to problems that “bug ” them. During the spring quarter, students are asked to spend several weeks compiling bug lists – noting products or situations that they think could be improved. The students form teams and decide on which of their bugs they want to address. A creative problem solving approach is demonstrated to the students who generate and evaluate concepts for their solution. The teams then construct increasingly refined prototypes of their new product idea. Serving as the culmination of the experience, a Freshman Design Exposition is held in which the general public, other students, and judges view and provide feedback to the students ’ inventions. During the following academic year, the best projects are asked to enter their designs in an Idea Pitch competition which leads to the Top Dawg business plan competition where their ideas can be more formally explored. This paper will discuss our process for Freshman Design, how it fits into the rest of our freshman curriculum, and how this project addresses the NAE’s Engineer of 2020 report. Specifics include: developing the bug list, incorporating the IDEO design process, appreciation of different personality types, brainstorming, engineering decision making, design journals, and prototyping. Additionally, qualitative and quantitative data from the first two Freshman Design Expositions will be presented along with data on the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary nature of the student teams. Background and Context In engineering education, a consensus is forming that passive, lecture-based instruction should be replaced or supplemented by active, integrated, project-based learning.1 In the United States, the movement toward project-based freshman engineering curricula began in the 1990s due in larg