Research

Industry-Partnered Senior Design Projects on Alternative Energy

Principal Investigator: Dr. Michael Rosen (College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences)
Funding Agency: US DOT

Project Summary

For the first time, seniors in the Electrical Engineering (EE) and Mechanical Engineering (ME) programs enrolled in a combined "capstone" course which maintained traditional core features--students working in teams and project-based learning--with the new Student Experience in Engineering Design (SEED), which challenges our students with more complex and multidisciplinary problems.

Of the 15 SEED projects, eleven originated as statements of need from Burlington, Vermont area companies and were conducted with the direct, continuous involvement of engineers and other professionals from those companies. Three more were driven by the needs of faculty research grants, while another addressed critical design needs of the student group AERO, a Formula Hybrid club.

The organizer of SEED and its chief instructor is Professor Mike Rosen, who developed the course material and industry contacts together with Professor Jeff Marshall. This initiative began with a directive from Domenico Grasso, Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS), that a course be created to add emphasis to design education and strengthen the links between industry and UVM undergraduate engineering education.

The UTC co-funded two of these projects: