A support structure of teaching engineering design to freshman students

An infrastructure for teaching engineering design to freshman students on a large scale was established at the University of Maryland in 1993. To implement the objectives defined under the infrastructure, a support structure capable of sustaining routine operations with quality and efficiency needs to be established. This paper presents the process of developing such a support structure. It describes the formation of a management team to identify five major components of the support structure. They are the textbook and teaching portfolio, selection of a design project, maintenance of the computer lab and learning factory, training of graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate teaching fellows, and the function of the management team. A five-project cycle is presented to demonstrate a process of providing the students with the background of what a future engineer will have to deal with in all aspects of his/her engineering career. The working mechanism of the developed support structure for teaching engineering design to freshman students is presented with examples.