ProCEED: A program for civic engagement in engineering design

Abstract

This paper highlights the success of the ProCEED (Program for Civic Engagement in Engineering Design) recently started at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The program is aimed at giving mechanical engineering students access to the community in a way that engages their engineering skills to provide valuable contributions to the surrounding community. The program was also aimed at fostering student leadership roles within the department by allowing Pi Tau Sigma, The National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, to take the lead role in the program. Students involved in the program help solicit projects from the surrounding community for development and prototyping in the senior design course, ME 450. Students in the course benefit from the projects by learning to interact with community sponsors, usually without technical training. Students also benefit by learning how to use their engineering skills to solve everyday problems in a community service capacity. This paper will provide an overview of the current course structure in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Michigan, how the ProCEED program fits into this existing course structure, the goals of the program, community education resulting from the introduction of the program, projects that have resulted from the program, sustainment and expansion of the program, and finally an evaluation of the program by an external source.