Epics: Experiencing Engineering Design Through Community Service Projects

In the search for ways to simulate “real” design experiences in our classrooms, the model of service learning is often overlooked within engineering. It is, however, a powerful model for learning the engineering design process. At Purdue University the EPICS Engineering Projects in Community Service – program is doing just that. Under this program, undergraduate students in engineering earn academic credit for long-term team projects that solve technology-based problems for local community service organizations. The program currently has 20 project teams with approximately 250 students participating during the 1999 academic year. Each EPICS project team consists of ten to fifteen students and is paired with a local community service organization that functions as its customer. Each team has a faculty or industrial adviser. The teams are interdisciplinary including students from Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Civil, Aerospace, Industrial and Materials Engineering as well as from Computer Science, Chemistry, Sociology, Nursing, Visual Design, English and Education. The teams are vertically-integrated each is a mix of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors and a student can participate in a project for up to three and a half years. The continuity provided by this structure allows projects to last for many years. Projects of significant size and impact are thus possible. Four projects are highlighted to illustrate the multidisciplinary aspects of the program. The projects selected illustrate mechanical, civil and electrical hardware and software design in the context of service learning. A discussion of how the program objectives align with the ABET 2000 criteria is also included.