Freshman Engineering Program
Engineering Applications for Society (ENGR 0715)

ENGR 0715 is a unique and rewarding learning experience for freshman engineering students who have completed the prerequisite ENGR 0711 Honors Engineering Analysis and Computing Fall semester course. Engineering Applications for Society represents a "Service Learning" experience through which students learn and develop valuable skills necessary to succeed as an engineer by solving a real problem of value to a local community organization.

This course was piloted in the Spring of 2006 during which six projects were completed for three community organizations. In 2007, the course was expanded and 17 projects were completed for 8 community organizations, including the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Hillhouse Association, Community Human Services Corporation, Oakland Planning & Development Corporation, Disability Resources and Services, Hazelwood Initiative, and more. Summaries of these projects and the community organizations for whom they were performed can be found by selecting the Previous Projects link from the menu to the right.

For the Spring of 2008, there were again 17 teams of students with projects underway for 10 community organizations. The projects being conducted currently can be found by selecting the Current Projects link in the menu to the right. Many of the current community partnerships were facilitated through a grant awarded by the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) of the University of Pittsburgh. The community organizations we have partnered with can be found by selecting the Partners link.

The goal for this course is to create a win-win experience for both the students and the community organizations. In return for their participation in the educational process of the university students, the community organizations benefit by having a problem of value addressed, or "solved", by the students. The benefits to the students are innumerable. Not only are they rewarded by the satisfaction of solving a real problem of value to their community, but through experience, they learn many personal and professional skills that cannot be learned in traditional engineering curriculum. They learn what solving problems as an engineering professional truly involves, above and beyond the equations learned in classrooms where the answers can be found at the end of a book.

ENGR 0715 Menu