Students learn to apply academics in the workplace

How do students take the practical knowledge gained in a classroom setting and apply it effectively to situations encountered in the workplace?

Students who took I. W. "Rick" Hall's "Materials Engineering" course last fall got a chance to do just that, and four of these students earned a one-year membership in a professional society as a result of their efforts.

While the course, required for all mechanical engineering students, focused on the properties and applications of engineering materials such as metals, ceramics, polymers and composites, it also had students work in small groups to solve problems on certain subjects.

"Each group had five to 10 minutes in class to answer four or five questions," Hall said.

"Some were calculations, some factual and some were open ended, with each team being free to use any means at their disposal."

For the class, teams also had to assign tasks among members, make web pages, select materials and make a final presentation based on the work covered in the course.

Scores were kept, but instead of counting towards a final grade the winning four-member team among the nine competing groups received free student memberships in the Brandywine Valley Chapter of the American Society for Materials (ASM).

The winning team, composed of mechanical engineering juniors Andrew Drysdale, Stephen Walls, Matthew Boyd and Christopher Lane, also received an invitation to a local ASM chapter meeting to make a PowerPoint demonstration of their classroom presentation.

Hall said he believes that the opportunity to make such a presentation gives students a chance to meet with industry professionals, who include mechanical engineers as well as individuals who order and fabricate a wide variety of materials.

"It gives them an excellent opportunity to make oral presentations," Hall said. "It also gives students an opportunity for decision making in situations where there are no clear answers."

The brainstorming sessions are seen by Hall, who proposed the idea to the Brandywine Valley Chapter executive committee, as a way to involve students in situations that go beyond the typical lecture experience, while giving outside groups a chance to meet the next generation of mechanical engineering professionals.

"I want to impress on students the fact that there is life after college and to make them aware of the benefits of being involved in some kind of professional society and to encourage their participation, in such groups," Hall said.

"I also see this as a way of making professional societies aware of what is going on here at UD."

–Jerry Rhodes