Fall 2014 ENGR 131: Ideas to Innovation

DeBoer ENGR131 Fall 2014
Dr. Jennifer DeBoer speaks to students in her ENGR 131 class during the Fall Semester 2014.
During Fall Semester 2014, First-Year Engineering courses in the School of Engineering Education had more than 3,000 students enrolled - most of these students took ENGR 131: Ideas to Innovation I.

Even though there are more than a dozen sections of the course, the students have the same learning objectives, and they all put what they learned over the semester to use in the final design project. Final design projects vary in context and scope from section to section. This fall, these projects included:

  • An "eco-shopper" shopping cart that encourages healthy living. Dr. Monica Cardella invited the manager of the Meijer store in West Lafayette to class to speak with students, share information and answer their questions.
  • An Energy3D simulation in which students created a zero-energy residence. Dr. Senay Purzer's students used computer-aided design (CAD) software to design the houses. In another project, Upcycling, Dr. Purzer had students brainstorm ideas for products that encourage healthy living made from recyclable materials.
  • For a twist on the Energy3D project, Dr. Jennifer DeBoer had her students design their net-zero energy houses specifically for São Paulo, Brazil, and the houses were evaluated by a senior research group at the Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. For the Upcycling project, her students had to answer to an advisory board that included engineers from Quanser, a Canadian mechatronics company, and graduate and senior undergraduate students at Taylor's University in Malaysia.
  • A display about a musical instrument. Students in Dr. Matthew Ohland's two sections had to research and present their designs - including instruments - to students from Wea Ridge Middle School. (video below)
  • A game or activity promoting healthy living or sustainability. Dr. Morgan Hynes' students' creations were presented to toddlers at the Ben and Maxine Miller Child Development Lab School at Purdue. (video below)

Successful completion of ENGR 131 allows students to enroll in ENGR 132, Ideas to Innovation II, for the spring semester. In ENGR 132, students take a more in-depth and holistic approach to integrating multiple perspectives while constructing solutions to open-ended problems. The goal of the course is to extend skills in project management, engineering fundamentals, oral and graphical communication, logical thinking, team work, and modern engineering tools (e.g., Excel and MATLAB).