Required Course for All Incoming Freshmen Engineering Students

Over the past four years in the development phases of this course, we have had a few general concepts or desirables that were consistent.

• to be self-learners and to experience an active learning environment.
• to learn something about engineering.
• to have good communication skills.
• to use computer software skills as applied to projects.
• to be excited about their career choice and to enjoy this course while being stimulated to be high achievers.

FED101 introduces the basic engineering concepts in a product design or an engineering process to freshmen students. The course schedules six hours of class time for the students to experience three different engineering projects. The engineering projects are taught in modules. Two modules run sequentially in seven-week blocks, meeting three hours per week. Concurrently, students also work on a third module for the other three hours for the entire fourteen-week term.

The fourteen-week, three hours per week block of time is delegated to a mechanical engineering module that includes graphics, CAD, and an applied mechanical engineering project. The other two projects are selected from civil, chemical, electrical, computer, biomedical, or industrial engineering disciplines. An example for one group of students is a civil engineering project for the weeks 1 through 7, then an electrical engineering project for weeks 8 through 14. Concurrently, these students also work on the mechanical engineering project for the entire fourteen weeks. Parallel to the FED101 course, these same students are enrolled in HSS101, a humanities course to assist with the thinking, writing, and speaking skills.

The following is one example of the selection of seven-week modules scheduled for the FED101 course.

The seven-week modules vary from this group of engineering modules: Biomedical or Biomechanical, Chemical, Civil and Environmental, Electrical, Computer, or Industrical and Manufacturing. Some modules have been developed as multi-discipline.

The sequence of seven-week projects should not be the same or similar, such as Electrical and Computer Engineering projects, since the students should experience as many different engineering disciplines as this course will permit. In come cases, the modules can complement each other. Some examples follow.

1. If an Electrical Engineering Module is scheduled during the first seven weeks, the Mechanical Engineering Module will have an objective to design a housing for an application of the electrical circuit.
2. If the Chemical Engineering Module with the measurements laboratory is scheduled during the first seven weeks, the Mechanical Engineering Module’s objective will be the design of the valves which controlled the flow in pipes in the measurements lab.

Every section of this course will have a Mechanical Engineering Module because it integrates engineering graphics and CAD which replaces the traditional Engineering Graphics course, EG101.

 (  Return to:    My Homepage    |  NJIT homepage  )