Students Pursuing Senior Projects Analyze the Public Need and Draft the Public Policy

Engineering and technology students undertake a senior project in the final year of their degree program. One common requirement in the proposal phase of the senior project is that the student team demonstrates a public need for the unique service or product that would result from the project. This need is identified through research in the literature and utilizing observations and surveys. The authors introduced assignments in their senior project courses for students to address the impact of the project on public policy. Many devices developed for senior projects have public polices associated with them, both regulatory and distributive. Engineers and technologists do not usually receive training to be policy makers. These assignments gave them the students the opportunity to develop, understand, and incorporate public policy in device development for senior projects.