Engineering Foundations @ UVA
This is a short recap of what I’ve done in ENGR 1010 and 1020 at UVA!
If you don’t know, this is a brand-new curriculum for the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. You’ll take ENGR 1010 in the fall of your first year and ENGR 1020 the next semester.
ENGR 1010: a course for “figuring out the basics”
Engineering Foundations is not a difficult course, nor is it your traditional course. When I took this course, it was split into three modules:
- ALOFT
- Sustainability
- Accessibility
ALOFT was probably one of my most favorite introductory projects I’ve done. You’re told to modify a sheet of paper to make it stay aloft for as long as possible. You’re also taught about the Engineering Design Process through this project.
A paper parachute with zero tape used. It doesn’t stay aloft for long, though..
The other two modules were focused on specific goals or success criteria of engineering. The Sustainability module wasn’t very hands on, but was about introducing proper research and writeups of problem definitions.
The Accessibility one was loads of fun though. We were told to identify an accessibility issue on grounds and were given a few weeks to fabricate a design!
My group made this cool door holder that can be adjusted to hold the door at different angles.
In addition to all of this, you’ll have some side assignments such as CAD assignments to help you gain some skill and knowledge in common Engineering tools. Always good to have!
Biggest tips for ENGR 1010
- Keep an open mind! This class is helping you to think differently like an engineer.
- Submit your work on time: There are a few assignments that take a while.
- Don’t worry about failure: this is a very safe place to try things, and you’re not graded on whether your fabrication works or not.
ENGR 1020: the big project
Engineering Foundations 2 had a major twist: we would be making actual solutions for actual clients.
This outright blew my mind when I heard about it.
there are people out there that seriously trust a bunch of first-years to make viable projects for their problems??
After taking this class, I really did learn that you are more capable than you think you are.
This class was once against broken up into modules:
- Phase 0: Intro and Skills Building
- Phase 1: Problem Definition, Client Interviews, Research
- Phase 2: Ideation, Prototyping, Proposal
- Phase 3: Fabrication & Testing
- Phase 4: Final Deliverables
Phase 0 was.. not going to lie, not very useful to me. We learned a little bit about Arduinos and did a tiny writeup about them.
I’m sure that there are people out there that found Phase 0 useful, especially for their final projects. But I didn’t use an Arduino after this.
The rest of the phases? Those were spent on choosing a client, forming a group, interviewing our client, doing a LOT of writing, and fabricating.
So what did I make?
Our client was Jeremy Boggs from the UVA Scholars’ Lab housed in Shannon Library. He was seeking a collaborative art installation to put in the Lab.
We made an “Emotion Heatmap”!
You essentially take some yarn from the back of this board, tie it to a pin, and connect emotions. Over time this makes art from all the people who have used it.
maybe there’s too much yarn on this now…
Like in Engineering Foundations 1, you’ll have some side assignments, like CAD.
Biggest tips for ENGR 1020
- Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines: A lot of assignments will come at you at once, so work with your team to make sure they get done!
- Be prepared to cut back: It’s great to be ambitious in your project, but trust me: you’re definitely going to scrap parts of your project once you get to fabrication. We did want to have a digital timelapse of our heatmap displayed on a TV next to the board: we ended up not doing that.
- Be prepared to make last-minute changes: No one has perfect foresight :)