Short, Hands On Team Design Projects In A Freshman Engineering Physics Class

One of the challenges of a first year engineering course that integrates traditional physics content with an introduction to engineering design is the development of suitable design projects. An ideal project is one that is challenging, fun, requires teamwork, associated with the physics material being studied, low cost, and doable in a limited amount of time. This paper describes several design projects that have been created for use in a freshman engineering physics class that meet these criteria. Various techniques related to team selection, encouraging teamwork, incorporation of physics topics, keeping costs down, project results presentations, and gathering feedback from students are also presented.