a new vision. The CDIO Initiative is the embodiment of that new vision. A CDIO education stresses engineering fundamentals, set in the context of the conceiving—designing—implementing—operating process that engineers use to create systems and products. The CDIO Initiative is rich with student projects complemented by internships in industry. It features active group learning experiences in both classrooms and in Aero-Astro’s new learning workshop/laboratory. We began our development of CDIO in the late 1990s. The first task we shouldered in designing our new educational program was compiling a list of the abilities needed by engineers. To do this, we formed focus groups of industry representatives, engineering faculty and other academics, university review committees, and Aero-Astro alumni. We asked the focus groups, “What are the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the graduating engineer should possess?” We melded the focus group results with industry and educators’ wish lists and created the first draft of a new syllabus (the outline of topics of study). The top levels of our syllabus match what we have determined are the essential functions of an engineer: mature and thoughtful individuals who understand how to “conceive, design, implement This elevation of the Learning Laboratory indicates areas designated for support of conceiving, designing, implementing, and operating — the four main elements of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department’s syllabus. (Cambridge Seven Assoc. illustration)
and operate complex value-added engineering systems in a modern team-based engineering environment.” The next task was to change the Aero-Astro curriculum to meet our learning goal. We modified the curriculum to include design–build projects. We coordinated and linked conventional subjects to demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of engineering. And, we created a capstone course: a challenging, culminating experience where students design, build, and operate a product system. WORKSPACES KEY TO THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Engineers design and build systems and products. In the CDIO Initiative, workshop and laboratory experiences support the theory-to-practice progression. Experiences in conceiving, designing, implementing and operating are
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AERO-ASTRO 2004-2005