Abdullah Ahmad Alfehaid presents his work during the Fall 2011 Senior Design Day at the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.
Another semester is coming to a close, and for students in the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET), that means that Senior Design is right around the corner.
Each semester, senior engineering and engineering technology students create capstone projects that are the culmination of everything they learned during their time at NIU.
Students form groups to invent new, or improve existing products or systems. Once they have their idea, the teams must actually build the product or test the system.
Members of the Engineering and Technology Alumni Society (ETAS), along with NIU faculty and industry professionals, judge the Senior Design projects in different ways.
Professors in CEET judge the students on their technical skills in order to award them a grade. In other words, the design must be functional. The industry professionals are interested in how practical the design would be in the market.
ETAS judges evaluate designs in a way that prepares the students for their next steps in business and industry. It is also important that the students showcase their communication skills during the presentation, as that is a key factor in actually being able to sell a design concept.
CEET focuses on bridging theory with practice.
Students not only focus in the classroom but also spend time working inside the college’s many laboratories, where they learn to apply the complicated principles they learn in the classroom. Bridging theory with practice ensures that NIU engineering students will be fully prepared to enter the professional world through jobs or internships after their time at NIU.
“We encourage them to be entrepreneurs and to come up with innovative ideas,” said Omar Ghrayeb, associate dean for the college. “As they went through our engineering program, they became equipped with the technical knowledge to make their designs a reality.”
The Fall 2012 Senior Design showcase will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, in Room 354 of the Engineering Building. Family, friends and professionals are welcome to attend and observe.
For more information, call (815) 752-8211 or email acarrier@niu.edu.
