Project: Design, build, and test a first-generation prototype of a new product or process for solving a problem to improve quality of life

Instructors: Ken Alfano and Kim Lewis

In this non-discipline-specific version of Engineering 100, students learn how engineers across many fields view and change the world around them. Engineering is an exciting profession for those with a passion to improve people’s well-being. Engineers solve large and small problems, for various populations, while working in a range of settings. Math and science are important tools in this, but the design process is central. This course provides a detailed overview of the engineering design process – the “heart” of engineering – in a broadly accessible manner that assumes no specialized knowledge and is largely applicable to most engineering disciplines. Students also learn various practical skills commonly employed in the design process such as basic CAD and CAE, TRIZ techniques, patent searching, and project management software. Throughout the course, relevant communication principles are also taught and incorporated into several assignments.

The major project for this course involves a team-based experience in developing and testing a first- generation prototype of something that could improve quality of life in some way. Through this experience, students begin to get acquainted with the nuances of several open-ended engineering tasks such as establishing a design problem and requirements, conceiving of and evaluating potential solutions, etc. – while also accounting for various practical and human considerations.

Links of Interest:

• Ansys Case Study
• CoE Design Hub

Project: Propose, design, build, and demonstrate your own microprocessor-based educational toy

As microprocessors have become smaller and less expensive, they have become embedded in many everyday devices, including toys: from small handheld games to sizable remote-control toy airplanes. In fact, some of the most advanced toys nowadays consist of tried and true toys of yesteryear enhanced with microprocessors to allow remote control, more realistic sounds, and intelligent interaction with their environments.

The goal of this section is for students to experience the complete life cycle of a substantial, creative project in computer science and engineering. Student teams in this section propose, design, build, and demonstrate their own microprocessor-based educational toy.  In the first half of the course, you will learn how to create digital logic circuits and use this knowledge to implement and program a working microprocessor on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).  In the second half of the course, your team designs, builds, and demonstrates their own educational toy.  The toy is implemented as an assembly-language program running on the team’s own microprocessor.  Toys use a variety of I/O devices, such as a speaker, microphone, keyboard, mouse, LCD and VGA displays, secure digital card, serial port, and FFT co-processor.

Through the project, you will learn technical communication, teamwork, and problem solving. You will write and present reports throughout the semester on the motivation, design, and implementation of your educational toy.  Lectures cover topics such as number representation, digital circuits, assembly-language programming, computer architecture, I/O devices, digital audio, technical communication, teamwork, and societal, environmental, and ethical implications of computing systems.  The assignments for the course include weekly labs in the first half of the semester, the main project in the second half of the semester, and written and oral reports throughout.

Prior programming experience is required (e.g., from a high school class or ENGR 101, or by being self taught).  You should be comfortable using the following programming concepts: variables, if-then-else statements, loops, functions, and arrays.

The class provides a good overview of computer engineering and of low-level computer science.

Project: Design, build, and test a novel process to produce a biotechnological or biopharmaceutical product

Instructors: Saadet Albayrak and Katie Snyder

Bioengineering integrates knowledge of biology with engineering principles and tools in the design of biochemical processes to produce biopharmaceuticals, biofuels, novel biopolymers, medical devices and diagnostics, and other agricultural and ecological materials. This section of Engineering 100 introduces fundamental concepts of bioengineering, biotechnology, and chemical engineering, and provides students an understanding of how biological systems can be engineered to solve real-world problems such as the need for renewable energy and affordable medicine.

Lectures will focus on the key concepts and methods used in these areas of engineering, and the laboratory portion of this course will involve hands-on experiments to demonstrate how these principles are applied to current engineering research and development. Students will work on two team projects to design, build, and test a bench-scale process for the generation and utilization of biopolymer carriers for a variety of applications based on their interest (drug delivery, water purification, medicine and food manufacturing, etc.), and production of biofuels from renewable biomass using genetically engineered microorganisms.

In addition to the engineering content, students will study and practice written and oral communication in engineering contexts. Coursework will emphasize audience analysis, writing strategies, genres of technical discourse, visual communication, collaboration, and professional responsibility. We will also consider ethical and social implications of engineering work, and how to address these issues in your writing and speaking practices.

If you are considering ChE or BME as your major, or you’re simply interested in exploring the “bio” aspect of engineering, this section is for you!

Please contact Dr. Saadet Albayrak-Guralp (saadetal@umich.edu) if you’d like to learn more about this section.

Anecdotes from previous students

“Being able to do hands-on work on the material we are studying has been extremely useful. As we learned about alginate beads or about biofuels, we were working on the exact same techniques that we were studying. This was vital to my understanding and I appreciated it greatly!”

“I loved this class, and I felt like I really learned a lot about technical communication and the engineering process.”

“I really enjoyed this class and it made me more certain that I would like to pursue my major because of how much I enjoyed this class, especially the lab portion.”

“While I am not very interested in this field, I am happy I took the class and definitely learned a lot.”

“Increased my knowledge of the subject matter and of engineering at UM in general. Also reaffirmed that I have chosen the right major! Best course of my semester and certainly a memorable one for the rest of my time here.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have broadened my view on Engineering as a whole.”

“I like all of the assignments that we have to do because I have learned from all of them and I can see the benefits of each, instead of like in other classes where students are just given busy work.”

“I really enjoyed the form and content of this class as a whole. I definitely feel like I’ve found my place in engineering.”

Project: Design, build, and test a wirelessly networked product that is self-powered by solar cells

Instructors: Ted Norris and Kelsey McLendon

In this section of ENGR 100, students will learn about solar energy collection and storage, and more generally, about electrical circuits, micro-controllers, wireless technology, and energy/power. The first half of the class will teach concepts in each of these areas, where electrical systems provide information collection, processing, and networking for all engineering fields. Laboratory sessions incorporate hands-on experiments to work with electrical circuits, solar cells, energy storage, micro-controllers, and wireless technology. In the second part of the class, students will work in teams to design, build, and test a wirelessly networked product that is self-powered by solar cells. The specific emphasis or challenge for the design project will change according to semester of offering.

Project: Design a renewable wind energy system to power a north campus community demonstration project

Instructors: Roger DeRoo and Karen Springsteen

An unavoidable consequence of using fossil fuel (usually coal) for electric power production is the creation of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas primarily responsible for climate change.

There is much public discussion of the need to migrate from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. But how? That’s where engineers come in.

This section introduces students to the engineering profession by exploring the engineering challenges to using renewable energy as a “green” alternative to fossil fuels. Students learn concepts of renewable energy, culminating in a team-based term project to produce a device that scavenges wind energy to perform a task. In producing a complex device, which requires some knowledge of atmospheric science, aerodynamics, mechanics, and electrical engineering, the students are exposed to an interdisciplinary approach to engineering projects.

Project: Design, build, and test a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that is highly maneuverable underwater and driven by a control box of your own design; then present your design to the client

In our section, you will work in a team of five to design, build, test, and communicate about a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), sometimes called a submersible, for underwater exploration. The ROV has a set of tasks that it will need to do, but otherwise this is a “free design” project with minimal constraints on size, shape, and function. You will have an opportunity to test your ROV in the towing tank at the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory (MHL) in West Hall.

IMPORTANT DATES!

WINTER 2024 SEMESTER: ROV testing will occur during the discussion and lab time on (TBD). The date of the ROV competition for the Winter 2024 semester is (TBD). Students are required to be present for a two hour shift. We will assign time slots prior to the competition.

The ROV testing and competition is mandatory; absolutely no exceptions or excuses. We don’t wish to be unsupportive of your extra-curricular activities, but this competition isn’t something we can reschedule or that you could “make-up” at a later date. If you cannot attend the competition (because of a family trip, Varsity track meet, your Club Quidditch team might make nationals and it’s the same day, etc.), then please choose a different section that will fit your schedule better.

At the competition, your team will present its ROV design to our industry sponsor, and then conduct final ROV testing in the MHL’s towing tank. A written progress report and a final report are also deliverables for this project.

We will touch on the following engineering topics within the context of the ROV project: team communication and collaboration, 3D modeling and printing, pressure, buoyancy, stability, technical documentation (presentations and reports), basic electric circuits, systems design, probability, statistics, risk, and ethics.

This course will likely be of greatest interest to those students looking to major in naval architecture & marine engineering, but any student who is interested in a rewarding, hands-on introduction to engineering at U-M is very welcome. You can read more about the course at this detailed course description. If you are hoping to register for this section in the fall term but find that it is already full, please email the First Year Programs Manager, Krista Quinn, at engin-fyp@umich.edu to have your name added to the list for winter term.

Project:  Design, build, test, and deploy atmospheric and remote sensing instruments on a high-altitude weather balloon

Instructors: Aaron Ridley and Alan Hogg

In this class, students will learn how to use a systems approach to build a sensor board using a micro-controller to take both in situ and remotely sensed observations of a high-altitude environment. The topics will include:

• Sampling the sensors and storing the data on-board
• Designing and building simple circuits for these types of applications
• Writing programs for controlling the sensors and data on the micro-controller as well as plotting the stored data on a computer
• Testing the system that they build for robustness
• Deploying their system in different places
• Learning and applying flight procedures and best practices for high-altitude balloon flights
• Processing and interpreting the sensor measurements post-launch

The payloads that are built and tested will be deployed on a high-altitude balloon launch, in which the payloads will be carried to about 100,000 ft. altitude, and the students will analyze the data that they collect from the balloon launch.