A Manufacturing Engineering Experiential Learning Program

The current paper describes the development and implementation of an industry/university collaboration in experiential learning. Each individual project in this program consists of the participating student, an industrial mentor, and a faculty mentor. The year long program is designed to offer the participating student the opportunity to participate in a design project at a level which is not possible with the more traditional summer employment. At the same time, the program allows a greater degree of flexibility for the industrial mentor, and provides for more industry/university interaction than often occurs with summer or co-op employment.