In one corner, a special printer is furiously creating 3-D plastic pieces of an air conditioning unit University students designed.
A group of students in a private conference room bounce ideas off one another about how to best solve a logistical problem assigned to them by their corporate sponsors.
These are just some of the opportunities available to engineering students in the College of Engineering’s Communication Across the Curriculum laboratory in CEBA.
The laboratory, which opened Oct. 24, has been helpful to engineering students who want to improve their communication skills said Warren Hull, the facility’s communication coordinator.
“Learning communication skills among engineering students has been a long-time concern because their schedules are so jam-packed with science and math and not the humanities,” Hull said. “This facility is part of a move to add communication to the college’s curriculum. It’s not on top of the current curriculum. We’re trying to work these skills into their existing course load.”
Tammy Abshire, director of development for the College of Engineering, said she thinks the facility is an important addition to the college.
“Engineering students are not typically known for their communication skills,” she said. “They are known for their technical skills. To address this, the college has designed some of its courses to be more communication intensive.”
Hull, a former owner of an engineering consulting firm, said communication is an imperative part of advancement in the engineering field.
“It enhances students’ ability to land a good job or show graduate schools and employers how well-rounded a student is,” he said. “I told the young engineers in my consulting firm that just having the knowledge to design a product is not adequate. You have to have the ability to communicate the design to your client.”
Hull said the lab’s 17 work stations offer several types of software that allow students to work on presentations, compile digital portfolios and test project designs.
The laboratory’s $33,000 3-D printer gives students the chance “to test a product’s form, fit and function” before turning it in for a grade by creating a full-scale plastic model of a product whether it is a pair of pliers or a segment of a human jaw bone.
The machine layers plastic over molds according to computer schematics students design. Hull said the machine can take up to 37 hours to create some complex designs.
“It’s like the largest glue gun you’ve ever seen,” he said.
Another useful tool the facility offers students is a 3-foot-by-5-foot touch-sensitive computer monitor that lets students edit and critique Microsoft PowerPoint presentations or Microsoft Word documents by touching the screen with colored styli.
“This is a pretty nice facility if you need more advanced help than Blackboard,” said Eric Kindon, accounting senior. “It’s nice to be able to access the Internet in a nicer format than a projector screen.”
He said the laboratory is also a place where faculty members can go to find out how they can include communication skills in their courses.
Hull said the laboratory is a “good and powerful tool” for University students who want to enhance their engineering skills.
“I feel very excited about it,” Hull said. “We’re starting to see lots and lots of interest from students as well as faculty members.” In one corner, a special printer is furiously creating 3-D plastic pieces of an air conditioning unit University students designed.
A group of students in a private conference room bounce ideas off one another about how to best solve a logistical problem assigned to them by their corporate sponsors.
These are just some of the opportunities available to engineering students in the College of Engineering’s Communication Across the Curriculum laboratory in CEBA.
The laboratory, which opened Oct. 24, has been helpful to engineering students who want to improve their communication skills said Warren Hull, the facility’s communication coordinator.
“Learning communication skills among engineering students has been a long-time concern because their schedules are so jam-packed with science and math and not the humanities,” Hull said. “This facility is part of a move to add communication to the college’s curriculum. It’s not on top of the current curriculum. We’re trying to work these skills into their existing course load.”
Tammy Abshire, director of development for the College of Engineering, said she thinks the facility is an important addition to the college.
“Engineering students are not typically known for their communication skills,” she said. “They are known for their technical skills. To address this, the college has designed some of its courses to be more communication intensive.”
Hull, a former owner of an engineering consulting firm, said communication is an imperative part of advancement in the engineering field.
“It enhances students’ ability to land a good job or show graduate schools and employers how well-rounded a student is,” he said. “I told the young engineers in my consulting firm that just having the knowledge to design a product is not adequate. You have to have the ability to communicate the design to your client.”
Hull said the lab’s 17 work stations offer several types of software that allow students to work on presentations, compile digital portfolios and test project designs.
The laboratory’s $33,000 3-D printer gives students the chance “to test a product’s form, fit and function” before turning it in for a grade by creating a full-scale plastic model of a product whether it is a pair of pliers or a segment of a human jaw bone.
The machine layers plastic over molds according to computer schematics students design. Hull said the machine can take up to 37 hours to create some complex designs.
“It’s like the largest glue gun you’ve ever seen,” he said.
Another useful tool the facility offers students is a 3-foot-by-5-foot touch-sensitive computer monitor that lets students edit and critique Microsoft PowerPoint presentations or Microsoft Word documents by touching the screen with colored styli.
“This is a pretty nice facility if you need more advanced help than Blackboard,” said Eric Kindon, accounting senior. “It’s nice to be able to access the Internet in a nicer format than a projector screen.”
He said the laboratory is also a place where faculty members can go to find out how they can include communication skills in their courses.
Hull said the laboratory is a “good and powerful tool” for University students who want to enhance their engineering skills.
“I feel very excited about it,” Hull said. “We’re starting to see lots and lots of interest from students as well as faculty members.”