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The benefits to students who engage in undergraduate engineering research are significant. Not only can students apply and extend knowledge they have learned in the classroom, they have an opportunity to engage in creative, abstract and critical thinking that leads to concrete, hands-on engineering applications. However, in many engineering programs, the current demand for undergraduate research exceeds available resources. As a result, many engineering students are precluded from participating in research during their undergraduate studies. Furthermore, most students enter research labs without the tools and background to hit the ground running. In this paper, we describe an inquiry-based engineering methods course designed to engage junior and senior level engineering students in structured, self-directed research at our university. This course is intended to stimulate creative engineering thinking in students while leading them through the process of conceptualizing and performing hands-on engineering research in a classroom setting. The course is open to all engineering undergraduate students and it is aimed at the development of student research skills and student preparation to perform mentored undergraduate research, therefore setting the stage for a more competitive and successful path to postgraduate studies or R&D industry career. In addition, this course helps close the gap between student demand for an undergraduate research experience and the often limited number of faculty-mentored research projects available to undergraduate students in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), General Education (GenEd) requirements for Bachelor Degrees include six credit hours dedicated to project work that brings students from all across the university to work in teams that resemble a professional work setting. These interprofessional student teams work with faculty and/or industry mentors on a wide range of projects. Students assume different roles in the team and are encouraged to approach the project from their own perspective and to contribute their respective discipline-specific knowledge while performing within their professional role in the team. Engineering students in these inter- professional teams are often addressing (and leading) the technical aspects of the project using engineering approaches to problem solving. To take best advantage of this GenEd requirement and its potential impact in engineering education, our college of engineering has been working to create projects that provide opportunities for students to address significant contemporary challenges that can benefit from engineering solutions. This paper describes an "Urban Systems" inter-professional project course that (in the context of the themes of energy, heath, security and water) examines challenges posed by urban systems, proposes creative solutions, and forms innovation teams focused on the research and development of prototype solutions. Developed to specifically target local issues in Chicago, IL where IIT is located, the intent of the course is to foster the use of engineering approaches to problem solving, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship among students. Ideas that have emerged from this course range from new apps to better serve the community on healthy food needs to a new concept of a cooling tent for hot summers. In addition to the opportunity to apply their respective discipline-specific knowledge, theme-centered, engineering-led, inter-professional projects provide our students with team work, leadership, and project management skills while contributing to the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate (UG) research is an important component of today's engineering education. Research experiences allow students to explore beyond the classroom by applying concepts towards scientific discovery and the development of products and technologies that impact society. The number of UG engineering students interested in participating in research is increasing. However, UG research opportunities are often limited to students finding a project, laboratory, and mentor on their own. Therefore, only a handful of students typically benefit from a mentored UG research experience. In addition, students seeking UG research opportunities and projects have little, if any, knowledge on how to conduct research. A well-structured, guided UG research program could enhance the undergraduate experience of a large number of students and better prepare them for making an appropriate postgraduate choice (industrial R&D, graduate school, etc.) that would lead to career success. In Armour College of Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, we have developed and implemented a college-centered engineering Undergraduate R&D Program that teaches students the art of conducting research using a comprehensive approach. The students are introduced to research methods and concepts through a research course, and a series of competitive research project opportunities is provided. In addition, students are required to present their research findings at a college-wide research expo and submit a paper to studentreviewed campus research journal. The program aims to impact a large number of students interested in working on research and development projects in all disciplines within engineering. The program is centralized at the college level and supports student/faculty teams that compete by submitting formal proposals focused on basic research projects or the development of a technology or product. Proposals are solicited every semester, including summer, and reviewed for quality and impact with special attention to the mentoring plan. Since its inception (Spring 2013), 178 projects have been supported, with participation of engineering students in their second through fourth years. Student participants in this Armour R&D program reported acceptance of their work for presentation in national conferences, received research awards, and published in peer-reviewed journals. Surveys have been implemented to evaluate the impact of the UG research experience on graduate school acceptance rates, industrial internships, and placement opportunities upon graduation. Currently available metrics support the significance and impact of this program on student education and career success. In this paper we present and discuss a more comprehensive analysis of the results from the assessment of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering programs across the country are increasingly offering outside-the-classroom programs and opportunities that strengthen and increase the value of an engineering education. Such opportunities support students in practicing their knowledge, further developing their ideas, better understanding contemporary world challenges, becoming more engaged with their communities, and experiencing first-hand the potential impact of engineering solutions for which they have the opportunity to participate while pursuing their undergraduate degree. Many of these activities are extracurricular or co-curricular and while engineering students look forward to participating and taking full advantage of all what is offered, demanding engineering curricula make the individual student planning of enrichment activities, and the tracking of overall student success, a project of its own. To complement and support academic and college-level enrichment program for engineering students at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), we implemented a new approach for following and recording student participation and performance in curricular and non-curricular activities that are relevant to their engineering education. We developed and implemented an automated on-line portfolio for engineering students that is personalized to each student and contains a full record of all courses, activities, and achievements throughout their undergraduate years. The IIT engineering portfolio is pre-populated with general information on curriculum requirements and enrichment programs and opportunities. As a student completes a specific requirement or participates in an enrichment activity, the individual student portfolio information is automatically updated. Each event or activity is fully described in the portfolio with relevant background information and accompanied with visual aid (photos or videos as appropriate) displaying the event and student work. Students are encouraged to further personalize their portfolios by adding all activities and projects that are relevant to their education, including those not facilitated by our institution. The IIT engineering portfolio provides students with a platform to plan, document and quantify their undergraduate experience. Students are able to track their progress, design their own academic path to graduation, and develop their own enrichment activity plan that best fits their specific interest. The engineering portfolio also assists students to prepare their resume for job interviews and, when used as a tool for interviewing, the portfolio highlights tangible experiences outside what is normally found in transcripts and conventional resumes. Our approach focuses on capturing the entire breath of each student's educational experience, while setting the foundation for students to build an open-ended self-guided career plan that draws from their skills, experiences, and achievements that comprise their engineering portfolio. A key feature of our portfolio project for engineering students is its impact on student career planning and success after graduation. Engineering students who had participated in the portfolio project at our institution are expected to continue to use the electronic portfolio as a planning tool to seek continued career improvement and creatively adapt to changing professional demands towards remaining competitive in the market place. At IIT, all incoming engineering undergraduate students are automatically registered with the online engineering portfolio. At graduation, engineering students receive, in addition to their diploma, a fully populated personalized portfolio of their work and accomplishments. We believe that access and use of an on-line portfolio is effective in assisting engineering students to have a better undergraduate experience, to be most effective in displaying their accomplishments when competing for career opportunities upon graduation, and to continue to plan for professional success. In this paper we describe the attributes of the IIT engineering portfolio and the student's use of the portfolio as a supporting tool while pursuing their engineering degree and upon graduation. The benefits of the portfolio used as an assessment and advising tool to educators and as an extended resume (of a student's accomplishments) to employers are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]