A women and technology program for freshman engineering students

In the Fall of 1999, Texas A&M University (TAMU) was selected as a participating university in the Virtual Development Center (VDC) program sponsored by the Institute for Women and Technology (IWT). The intent is that the ideas generated by women and for women through these centers can be realized by a cooperative effort between students and industries. A special section of the Foundations of Engineering (Engr 111/112) course at TAMU has been created in support of the VDC program. The student teams will collaborate with students from other courses, both technical and nontechnical, and at all levels. The result of this multilevel, interdisciplinary interaction is intended to be the design and implementation of idea(s). The classroom environment, interdisciplinary work, and industry interaction will give the students a very positive experience and open their eyes to many and varied engineering issues in ways that are not typically addressed by the curriculum.