(213f) Student-Driven Career-Focused Development of Design Engineering Skills

Forward-thinking undergraduate students seek extracurricular activities and membership in professional societies to develop knowledge and skill sets that complement their core coursework with the goal of increasing their marketability and employment prospects. Engineering students with industrial and internship experience have much they can offer their fellow classmates regarding industry-relevant knowledge and career-oriented skill sets. A student organized and student taught CHEM-E-CAD course was piloted in Fall 2019 under the supervision of a faculty mentor through the chemical engineering program at a large research institution with the purpose of augmenting the knowledge and skill sets of undergraduate (chemical) engineering students in the areas of CAD software, 3D printing, circuit design and assembly, and industrial automation. These topics involve modern engineering tools that are not typically included within the scope of the standard chemical engineering curriculum but are nonetheless valuable to many companies from which the students may wish to gain employment. This course has continued to be offered each quarter since the pilot offering for a total of 6 unique offerings. Each offering has been structured such that continuing students can learn something new and new students can learn the basics of that quarter’s topics. The CHEM-E-CAD course was led during the first year (3 offerings) by a student instructor who leveraged his industrial experience to share his knowledge in these areas. During the second year, the course was led by a group of students who benefitted from the group during the first year and desired to share their knowledge with the incoming group of students. Students enrolled in the course attended weekly meetings consisting of presentations by the student instructors, group discussion of concepts, and workshop/lab sessions. Course activities were geared towards encouraging each student to create virtual and physical products that could be included in his or her professional portfolio. Each student needed to complete a predetermined number of assignments in order to receive a “pass” for this 1-unit pass/no pass course. Within the first two years of CHEM-E-CAD, over 120 individual students have benefitted from being a part of this program. After each of the six offerings, participants rated their perceived achievement of course outcomes and provided feedback, which has been overwhelmingly positive, to the student instructors and faculty mentor. During this presentation, the experiences and perspectives of the student leaders will also be shared.