© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Sustainable Energy Design Projects for Engineering Freshmen

In the fall 2006 a sustainable energy design project was piloted in a first semester engineering course “Engineering Exploration ” at Virginia Tech. The main objectives were to develop students ’ knowledge of sustainable energy, provide an introduction to the engineering design process, and to improve students ’ team and communication skills. The theme of sustainable energy was selected in support of the goal of an ongoing Department-Level Reform (DLR) project from the NSF, and to also initiate curricular activities supporting the newly formed Dean’s Taskforce on Energy and Sustainability. This task force seeks to coordinate, promote, and position the university’s educational, research, and outreach efforts to achieve sustainable and secure energy systems. Approximately 1,200 students completed the six week long team design project which culminated with a design showcase where 17 semi-finalists competed for 1 of 3 prizes. This paper presents the implementation details of the design project. In addition, results of a mixed-method study with 112 students which include pre- and post-test survey data examining general knowledge of renewable energy, attitudes towards renewable energy, engineering design and feedback from focus groups interviews are discussed