2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Complete Evidence-Based Practice paper presents the implementation of a reverse engineering project in a first-year Introduction to Engineering Design course as a tool to help students understand the interconnected nature of design decisions. While many early engineering design classes ask students to consider factors such as sustainability, economic drivers, and societal effects of a product, students often struggle to make connections between them. True sustainability requires the consideration of multiple driving factors beyond the environmental, balancing diverse and sometimes competing needs. To assess the efficacy of this course design, students completed a survey on their views of design and sustainability at both the start and end of the semester, enabling us to track how their perspectives evolved as they engaged with the project. By comparing survey responses from the beginning and end of the course, we assessed how students' understanding of sustainability and its role in the design process has evolved.
The primary focus of this required first year class was the reverse engineering of a garbage disposal unit to explore its motor design. From day one, students were introduced to an overarching question that served as the central theme throughout the course: "Which motor configuration is best suited for a home garbage disposal system?" This question was revisited in each module, with sub-questions guiding the investigation. These sub-questions examined key aspects such as stakeholder needs, product construction, motor functionality, material selection, and life cycle analysis, all aimed at building a comprehensive understanding to address the primary question.
For each sub-question, students investigated relevant factors and were asked to consider competing needs and requirements with respect to broader sustainability, such as environmental, economic, and societal sustainability, as described in the Engineering for One Planet framework. Students shared their results as a memo with an analysis of choices and a justification or recommendation for how to balance the competing needs.
The survey results provided insights into how engaging with the multiple factors involved in the garbage disposal motor design enhances students' appreciation of sustainability as an essential element of engineering decision-making. By taking this approach in a first year engineering course, students become prepared to apply this broader definition of sustainability to future projects within and beyond the classroom.