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In the freshman year engineering students take Engineering Methods I and II. In this two course sequence, they are introduced to engineering problem solving skills. Each semester is broken into two laboratories. In the Fall semester they learn the basics of engineering drawing using manual methods in the first lab, and in the second laboratory they learn to apply computer tools and design approaches to work in groups to conceive, design, build, and test a device that accomplishes a task. These skills enable them to more easily conceptualize three dimensional objects, make hand sketches that help them to design a device, use computer tools such as Excel to model the performance of the device, and apply computer programs such as Word and Powerpoint to write progress reports and a final report, and to deliver formal presentations at the end of the semester. The highlight of the semester for many students is the student group competitions at the end of the semester, in which the teams compete to determine which of the design projetcs best fulfill the original design requirements.

In the freshman year engineering students take Engineering Methods I and II. In this two course sequence, they are introduced to engineering problem solving skills. Each semester is broken into two laboratories. In the Fall semester they learn the basics of engineering drawing using manual methods in the first lab, and in the second laboratory they learn to apply computer tools and design approaches to work in groups to conceive, design, build, and test a device that accomplishes a task. These skills enable them to more easily conceptualize three dimensional objects, make hand sketches that help them to design a device, use computer tools such as Excel to model the performance of the device, and apply computer programs such as Word and Powerpoint to write progress reports and a final report, and to deliver formal presentations at the end of the semester. The highlight of the semester for many students is the student group competitions at the end of the semester, in which the teams compete to determine which of the design projetcs best fulfill the original design requirements.
	Fall Semester 2003 Freshman Design Competition
Design and Build a Wind Driven Device to Lift a Weight off the Ground,and Release the Weight when it Reaches the Top
	The Class was Broken into Student Groups, and Each Group Conceived, Built, and Tested Their Contraptions
The Maximum Weight that a Device was Able to Lift was Divided by the Weight of the Device
	The Team with the Largest Ratio was the Winner of the Competition
But actually, all the Teams were Winners, because they all developed creative solutions to an interesting problem
	And they were able to make friends, and interact with faculty early in their academic careers; both of these are ingredients for success.