Equipping Students with an Engineering Toolbox in a Capstone Design Course

Industries seeking engineers have increasing expectations as to how well prepared students should be when embarking on engineering practice. Any prior experience such as through internships is highly valued as it implies that the student has potentially been exposed to some real life engineering. New engineers entering the workforce may be expected to tackle many facets of engineering and to begin making a meaningful contribution as soon as possible in the execution of projects. In capstone engineering design projects we attempt to incorporate as many aspects concerning engineering practice as we believe are necessary or that we can fit into a relatively crammed course schedule. In the Industry Linked Design Project course taught in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering the concept of an ???engineering toolbox??? is used in equipping students with a carefully selected knowledge set that covers most of the topics and issues which an engineer may be expected to face when practicing engineering. Topics range from ethical issues and product liability to project scheduling and designing for worldwide markets. In addition, topics that could have an impact on the success of a student and his future are included, such as personal financial management and career planning. Collectively these ???tools??? provide students with thinking skills and knowledge that help them quickly become effective and competent engineers. These topics for the engineering toolbox are covered during a semester while simultaneously the students undertake a ???real life??? industry project in which they are able to apply much of what they learn. The selection of topics for the engineering toolbox has evolved over more than ten years in accordance with industry feedback and rapid technological changes. The strong connection with industry that is required for the course has helped to ensure that it remains relevant, effective and modern. The award-winning poster version of this paper is available in the SoTL Presentations and Posters folder.unpublishe