Senior Design In A Paperless Environment

Design is a difficult subject to teach as there are no “right answers” and each design problem is open ended; that is there are multiple acceptable solutions. Designs typically generate tremendous amounts of paper, either in the form of reports, calculations, drawings or specifications. The cost of producing this quantity of paper has traditionally been bourne by the students, in addition to all of the other costs of taking a University course. Mechanical Engineering at the University of undertook to remove the paper associated with the design courses. Recent advances in technology have made this transition possible and feedback from the students involved has been very positive. The transition has not been without a cost, both in dollars and time, but the benefits as measured both in student and academic satisfaction have been significant. The paperless environment was initiated with the senior design course but has since migrated to all design courses given within the department. The primary requirements for going paperless were willingness on the part of the academic staff to move away from traditional methods and a commitment on the part of the departmental governance to invest in new technology.