International Citizenship And Global Service Leadership – The Role Of Interdisciplinary Teams In Engineering Education

Interdisciplinary design teams are seen as an alternative to traditional engineering department-run capstone design experiences. Tufts University is recognized for providing service opportunities for students in association with host local communities in Massachusetts while engineering service organizations, such as Engineers-Without-Borders, have given students the opportunity to expand this experience to locations beyond the US border. This paper describes how a team of students with backgrounds from many different schools and departments were brought together to implement an engineering project supporting county health education in Gyatsa, China (Tibet Autonomous Region). The value of this experience is discussed with particular emphasis on the contributions to the engineering student education by team members with a non-engineering background. It is concluded that the interdisciplinary team approach provides a valuable pedagogical tool for educating engineering students.