Dr. Steven Butt is the first professor from the IME Dept. to teach ENGR 1010 Introduction to Engineering and Technology, a hands-on problem-solving class. It’s required for civil and construction engineering students and recommended for in-coming engineering students who have not declared a major.
During the first week’s lab section, Butt’s 30 students were organized in teams and asked to create the highest stand for a freely suspended metal platform. Their construction materials were marshmallows and dried spaghetti. “It’s a pass / fail assignment,” he said. “There’s a prize for the highest one.”
IME’s Steven Butt examines a structure of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti being built by one of the 10 teams of students in ENGR 1010
Engineering 1010 was developed by Dr. Edmund Tsang, associate dean for undergraduate programs and assessment for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Until this semester he has been the only teacher of record for the class.
The first ENGR 101 (the extra 0 was added this year) was offered in Fall 2003, followed by another in Spring 2004.
ENGR 1010 students at work
Two sections were offered each semester last year, and due to high enrollment in those, three classes are being offered this fall. Tsang is teaching two.
The three-credit-hour class meets each week for two hours of lecture and three hours of lab.
Students are introduced to the design and problem-solving aspects of engineering and given hands-on experience. “The whole idea is learning by doing,” Tsang said.
Butt has several more design challenges for his class, including a project he described as “a lower scale version of the senior capstone project they will do just before they graduate.”
Renae Hoglen, an Industrial Engineering senior, is assisting Butt with the freshman class.
Butt also teaches IME 2610 Statistics and is involved in research projects with Haworth, Bronson Hospital, and Stryker.
Tsang credited several CEAS professors for developing class modules and serving as guest lecturers to his class. They include IME’s Dr. Betsy Aller for a research and communication module. Others who contributed are Drs. Frank Severance, Damon Miller, Brad Bazuin, Andrew Kline, Tom Joyce, and Raja Aravamuthan.
Tsang said that colleges that have an introductory course in engineering usually have a higher retention rate than those that don’t. “That’s a national trend,” he said.
IME’s Steven Butt with ENGR 1010 lab problem solvers in a Parkview Campus hallway
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