Robotic arm project in Exploring Engineering (ESC 100) course
We offer six different majors in engineering and it can be hard to choose one ! This where Exploring Engineering (ESC 100) comes in. Students are introduced to engineering through this course, typically taken during freshman fall.
Exploring Engineering is an introduction to engineering and its individual sub-disciplines for which majors are offered at Union College: biomedical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, and mechanical. The course includes a weekly design studio that emphasizes engineering design, teamwork, technical writing and ethics through several individual and team design projects. The primary goals of the course are to (1) affirm and strengthen students' interest in engineering as a major and a career path, and (2) help individual students decide their choice of engineering major.
A highlight of the course is the engineering design challenge where students work in teams to design an apparatus which solves a problem. The problem is relatively open-ended but has some constraints which the students must meet. Past projects have included automated pet food dispensing machines and robotic arms (pictured above).