Integrated System-Level Design in Electrical Engineering

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

This project is reforming the ECE program at the University of Utah by developing system-level design projects to be integrated within individual courses and also spanning multiple courses. This is greatly enhancing the laboratory component of the program. It is building on a particular strength of the department, which already has a top-notch industrially-sponsored senior design sequence and courses with strong system design projects. Through this change, the project is (1) increasing student recruitment and retention, (2) increasing student motivation, (3) increasing knowledge acquisition and retention, and (4) developing system-level design understanding. The project challenges the students right from the first day of class, to build a simple but complete system using most of the concepts they are learning in the class. In some classes, this project is part of the professor's larger research program, and they are integrated with graduate students throughout the process. In others, they are helping to build science discovery units for a new children's science center, often working with high school students in an outreach environment. At the end of the semester, the systems are being integrated and tested. The students are excited and motivated, and if a part didn't work, they are anxiously fixing it. In some cases, systems from two or more courses are integrated together, reminding the students what it was that they learned last semester. This is the student experience in a curriculum that thoroughly integrates system-level design throughout the curriculum, bringing undergraduate students directly into the excitement of the research and discovery process, and sharing their natural excitement and curiosity with others.