Engineering for non-engineering schools: how we used hands-on experience with alternative fuels to educate students and promote science and engineering

摘要

The Department of - was established at - University in 1991 as a model for a new type of science and technology program that provides a broad scientific and technical education, engages students with real-world problems, and seriously addresses societal influences and impacts. The department cuts across typical disciplinary boundaries, focusing more on practical problem solving than on theoretical knowledge. The curriculum emphasizes learning-by-doing, and includes several hands-on laboratory courses and a 3-semester senior capstone project. Upper-level instruction in the department is organized around strategic industry sectors, with students choosing to concentrate their studies in bio-systems, engineering and manufacturing, information and knowledge management, telecommunications, energy, or environment. In 1997, the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Lab (AFV) was founded as part of the department's energy sector. The lack of an engineering program initially posed obstacles to alternative fuel activities, since the department lacked the necessary equipment and space. Instead, the AFV was formed from a collaborative partnership with the university's Facilities Management, which already possessed the requisite tools, workspace, and knowledge to initiate an alternative fuels program. AFV provides students with a hands-on educational experience working with alternative fuels and designing and constructing a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. In 2003, Facilities Management switched all of its vehicles with diesel engines entirely to biodiesel blends, allowing students to see how biofuels can be used successfully on a larger scale. Even though the university did not have an engineering program, in 2006 we were awarded a charter to form a student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The department is currently pursuing ABET Accreditation in the Applied Science category.