2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Union College Mechanical Engineering department has been redeveloping the curriculum to make it more inclusive and meet the college-wide general education challenge to connect our disciplinary content with complex global challenges. Traditionally, our materials science labs were designed as weekly, independent labs to reflect the lecture content from the Wiley version of Material Science and Engineering textbook.. This paper presents the approach of consolidating the 3–4 independent materials science labs into one larger project that addresses a real world challenge. In the materials-based project-based lab（PB-Lab), students work in groups and identify specific materials (morphological, structural, property, process) to create solutions for a scenario in an ongoing global crisis with set timeframes and constraints. The curriculum design of PB-Lab engages students with active learning and authentic learning; they see how what they are learning in materials sciences can be applied as working engineers. Students experience the interdependent and integrated nature of the materials development process. In summary, PB-Lab engages students in identifying problems, developing potential solutions through materials characterization and analysis in the lab, and delivering effective communication in the form of lab reports or presentations.