Course:
ENES 101: Introduction to Engineering Science
Professor:
Chuck Laberge, CSEE Professor of the Practice
Anne Spence, Mechanical Engineering Professor of the Practice
Course Description:
This is the first engineering experience for engineering majors when they arrive on campus. This course meets for two 50 minute lecture periods and one-two hour lab period each week. The lectures cover material ranging from unit conversions to basic statics to basic heat transfer to the design process. The lab periods are spent familiarizing the students with word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and computer aided design software. Focusing on a hands on design project, students are placed in teams in which they design, mathematically model, build, and test a product. Products have ranged from chemically powered cars to water balloon launchers to hot air balloons. Students learn that the design process is iterative, performance can be modeled mathematically and engineering drawings are required to build a product. Final design reports and oral presentations are a large part of the student’s overall grade.
What makes it special:
This course is co-taught by CSEE Professor of the Practice Chuck LaBerge, and Mechanical Engineering Professor of the Practice Anne Spence, so it is targeted toward all types of engineering students at UMBC: Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering. The course allows students from all of these disciplines to collaborate on different projects throughout the year. The most notable project is for the AROW Competition (Academy Robotics on the Water), which is an introductory engineering design experience developed by Captain Jonathan Russell, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Maggi and Stephen Grenier at the US Coast Guard Academy. Students are tasked with the design, implementation, test and operation of a robotic vessel to perform simulated tasks representing activities of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Pictures:
Examples of completed vessels for the 2011 AROW Competition.
Videos:
In this video, a team puts their robotic vessel to the test during the 2011 AROW Competition at UMBC.