Changes

== Interdisciplinary Senior Design <br/> == <span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; background-color: transparent;">Senior engineering students at WMU must complete a senior design project as a requirement for graduation from their program. Currently, students only work with other students within their respective major or department. Project presentations occur twice a year in April and October. Completion of a senior design project indicates successful acquisition of major specific knowledge as well as real world application skills. However, the structure of post-graduate corporate America isn’t organized into teams by college major. It is full of interdisciplinary creative groups expressing entrepreneurial and innovative tendencies towards specific challenges. Multiple discipline collaboration within the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences and beyond during senior projects encourages the continued development of innovation and entrepreneurial skills as students enter the workforce.</span> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; background-color: transparent;">To accomplish this, the following tactics should be considered:</span> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Tactic #1:</span><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Encourage the acceptance of interdisciplinary projects as viable and long lasting topics for senior design presentations rather than the result of a last minute group and idea formation.</span> <span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-06e93d6c-afbc-2575-f879-a0406ebd8741"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Tactic #2: Meet with and discuss the process involved in approving senior design projects with faculty in charge. Getting an understanding of the requirements allows parameters to be set so that the proper balance of innovation and knowledge recitation can occur.</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;"><span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"></span></span></span></span> <span style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-family:tahoma,geneva,sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-06e93d6c-afbc-2575-f879-a0406ebd8741"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Tactic #3: Gain student interest. Spread the word about possible senior design collaborations between majors to future seniors to prove the existing interest to faculty and decision makers in charge of approval.</span></span></span></span><div><br/></div>