Congratulations to A&A Professors Morgansen, Dabiri, Hermanson and Lum, who are one of four multi-disciplinary teams selected to receive a UW College of Engineering Strategic Instruction Initiative (SII) award, along with faculty from HCDE, CE and ME. The SII program aims to reimagine engineering education by identifying, developing, implementing and accelerating innovative best practices for teaching and learning. The team, headed by Prof. Morgansen, will receive $25,000 per year, to be matched by the A&A Department, for up to two years to implement innovative educational ideas.

The team’s project, titled ‘Multidisciplinary Arduino Project-Based Learning in Early Engineering Education,’ will involve the development of tools, materials and educational plans to provide and support project-based learning with computation, electronics and mechanical systems along multiple pathways in early engineering education. Specifically, educational modules based on the use of Arduino and Matlab will be built to supplement existing engineering curriculum in fundamental COE courses including statics (AA 210), mechanics of materials (CEE 220), kinematics and dynamics (ME 230), and thermodynamics (AA 260). By nature, the use of Arduino, Matlab, electronics, sensors and actuators provides a rich field of application opportunities that are inherently multidisciplinary and translatable between disciplines. The key learning outcomes to be addressed are integration of engineering analysis with engineering intuition, problem solving, and self-directed learning. The faculty members partnering in this activity have been selected specifically for their experience and expertise in teaching each of the undergraduate fundamentals courses listed and for their experience with Arduino.