The Integration Of Hands On Team Projects Into An Engineering Course To Help Students Make The Transition From Student To Professional Engineer

There is considerable concern that current engineering education practices do not adequately prepare students for the practice of engineering. This statement goes far beyond the often stated requirements that to be successful in their careers engineering graduates must have good communication skills, must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams, etc. There is a fundamental disconnect between how engineering professionals operate and how engineering students are taught. This paper describes a technical elective course, Introduction to Automotive Powertrains, which is designed to bridge the gap between ‘engineering student’ and ‘engineering professional.’ Furthermore, it is shown that the professionally-oriented approach that was used to develop this course is an excellent approach for addressing many of the program outcomes specified by ABET Criterion 3.