June 2009
This issue home | Past issues | Chamber home
UTD Launches New Senior Design Program UTDesign
The University of Texas at Dallas is preparing to launch the pilot year of UTDesign, a new senior design program in the Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. “Initially, this pilot program will augment our existing Senior Design format. If it proves successful for students, companies and faculty – as we fully expect it will – it will become the standard format for all Senior Design projects within a few years” (Dr. Edward J. Esposito, Assistant Dean for Industrial Relations, UT Dallas).
Completion of a senior design project is the capstone of the undergraduate engineering curriculum and has been a tradition at UT Dallas. Topics from 2008 included wireless power transmission, “StealthHealth”, paper currency identifier, rooftop energy harvesting, and step-down power converters. UTDesign takes this concept even further. Groups of three to six students will spend a semester working on projects that are conceived, supported, mentored, and evaluated by local companies. This program will give students experience solving real-world engineering problems and give them early exposure to corporate engineering practices. At the same time, industrial partners will get to outsource selected projects that are of interest to them and get an early look at graduating Jonsson School students.
This summer, interested companies will be submitting brief descriptions of their proposed projects. These will be reviewed by engineering faculty and, if accepted, students will be assigned to begin work on the project in August 2009. Throughout the project, a technical mentor from the sponsoring company will mentor the student team along with an assigned faculty member. This ongoing faculty involvement provides UT Dallas faculty with up-to-date views of problems of current industrial interest, which will influence their instruction of other engineering students and help keep UT Dallas responsive to industrial needs. The students complete the first phase of the project with an on-site presentation and written report in mid-December, and similarly for the second and final phase the following April. Another group of projects will start in August 2010.
UTDesign emphasizes continuous interaction with the company mentors, team problem-solving, goal setting and deadlines, communication skills, adaptability, and meeting customer requirements. In past years, UT Dallas students have worked on projects with Mustang Technology, Raytheon, Research in Motion, and Tektronix. The new program will be targeting six to eight companies this first year with more growth expected in the future. This is a win-win-win for the local industrial partners, UT Dallas faculty, and the future engineers who are preparing to begin solving the problems of the real world after graduation.
Action News is a monthly publication of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce Communications Department.
Click here to Unsubscribe or email rsvp@richardsonchamber.com.
Richardsonchamber.com | Richardson Chamber of Commerce | Metroplex Technology Business Council
Richardson Economic Development Partnership | Leadership Richardson
© 2004-2006 Richardson Chamber of Commerce
411 Belle Grove Drive
Richardson, Texas 75080-5297
(972) 792-2800
|
 |
Top Stories
More Top Stories
In Every Issue
President's Club Members
Platinum Member
Oncor Delivery
Richland College of the DCCCD
Gold Members
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Galatyn Park
Granite Properties
Koll Development
University of Texas at Dallas
Silver Members
AMLI at Breckinridge Point
Atmos Energy
Bank of Texas
City of Richardson
David G. Blanchard, CLU,
Fobare Commercial
Humana
Lennox International Inc.
LegacyTexas Bank
Reliable Chevrolet
Reliant Energy
Rosewood Properties
Texans Credit Union
ViewPoint Bank
Wells Fargo North Dallas Commercial Bank
Winston Capital Corporation
|
