Emulating industrial prototyping: Berkeley's Engineering Design Studio

Among the criticisms leveled at US engineering schools are these. Not teaching enough "practical" courses, too little "hands-on" by students, lack of the team approach to problem solving, too much "compartmentalization" of engineering disciplines, and insufficient drilling in both written and oral communications. Other criticisms have to do with retention: too many students become discouraged in the early months of the engineering curriculum and drop out. Some hold that if lower division students received more exposure to engineering, mingled with their courses in mathematics, chemistry, and physics, they would be encouraged to continue in engineering. This paper reports on two courses intended to respond to these notions: Engineering Design Studio, and Engineering Project Management. The courses were offered initially in the Spring 1993 semester and have been offered each semester since. The courses are designed to emulate an industrial prototyping laboratory.