Engineering 100 - Engineering for Everyone: Energy and the Environment

EGR 100 serves as an accessible course for all students, regardless of background or intent to major in engineering. Students develop a sound understanding of the engineering design process, including problem definition, background research, identification of design criteria, development of metrics and methods for evaluating alternative designs, prototype development, and proof of concept testing. Working in teams, students present their ideas through oral and written reports. Reading assignments and in-class discussions challenge students to critically analyze contemporary issues related to the interaction of technology and society. Organized around different themes, multiple sections. Engineering majors are required to take this course. Those students considering majoring in engineering are strongly encouraged to take EGR 100 during their first year. Enrollment limited to 20: Through readings, discussion, labs, and lectures students learn about human activity related to energy usage and the consequences to Earth’s environment. This knowledge is applied to motivate, design and build scale models of net-zero energy buildings. Through simple lab exercises, students learn to program microcontrollers that measure temperatures and control features within their model buildings, and corresponding analyses enable students to demonstrate how energy from the sun can be utilized in design to reduce carbon-based energy sources.