2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: MotoVida Challenge: A First-Year Humanitarian Design Curriculum Integrating EE/ME Skills

Presented at FPD: WIP Papers - Engaging FYE Students Through Active and Project-Based Learning

This paper presents the design, implementation, and assessment of a two-course, first-year engineering sequence (required of all incoming engineering majors) that bridges the gap between foundational skills acquisition and their application in a complex humanitarian design context. The sequence, comprising EGR 120 (Engineering Explorations) and EGR 130 (Introduction to Engineering Design), forms a cohesive, skills-oriented experience in the first year. EGR 120 introduces foundational concepts, basic circuits, Arduino-based programming, computer-aided design (CAD), and engineering ethics through guided labs and projects. Building directly on these foundations, EGR 130 engages student teams in an open-ended project addressing a real-world problem. In particular, EGR 130's one project centers on a semester-long humanitarian engineering challenge, MotoVida, in which teams design and prototype rugged, Arduino-integrated devices to improve emergency response in remote or underserved communities. This humanitarian context not only serves as a powerful motivator for students but also provides a vehicle for introducing ethical, societal, and global considerations early in the engineering curriculum, addressing the challenge of integrating technical fundamentals with socially responsible, real-world problem-solving at the first-year level. Working on a project with direct human and societal impact cultivates students’ empathy and broadens their appreciation for the social context of engineering practice.

The curriculum is designed to support student learning effectively. EGR 130 is a 15-week course divided into two phases. In the first 5 weeks, students participate in intensive electrical and mechanical engineering labs that reinforce core skills from EGR 120. Key topics include sensor systems, electronic circuits, GPS tracking, microcontroller programming, CAD modeling, and laser-cutting fabrication techniques. The remaining 10 weeks (Phase II) are devoted to the team-based MotoVida project, an iterative design challenge. Each team’s prototype must meet a set of core technical requirements that span multiple engineering domains: integrating multiple sensors (to collect environmental data), implementing a microcontroller-based control system (using the Arduino platform), incorporating custom-fabricated mechanical components (designed via CAD and produced using techniques such as 3D printing), and addressing ergonomic user-interface features. By confronting students with these multifaceted requirements, the course ensures they apply a holistic design methodology that blends mechanical, electrical, and software elements. Optional enhancements such as off-grid power and wireless communication encourage further innovation.

A multi-faceted assessment plan provides evidence of student learning. Formative assessments, such as faculty-led design reviews at key milestones, provide real-time feedback, while summative assessments include a detailed final project assessment rubric evaluating technical functionality, innovation, and teamwork, as well as pre- and post-course surveys to measure student self-efficacy gains. The curriculum is deliberately aligned with key ABET Student Outcomes. For instance, the team-based project structure directly addresses Outcome 5 (teamwork), while humanitarian design constraints provide a tangible framework for applying Outcome 2 (design that considers global and societal factors), and integrated discussions of professional ethics throughout the project reinforce Outcome 4 (ethical responsibilities). Student communication skills (Outcome 3) are honed through a final public showcase event in which teams demonstrate and defend their working prototypes in a simulated humanitarian scenario before a panel of faculty and industry evaluators. This culminating experience not only holds students accountable for delivering a working solution but also gives them practice in demonstrating and articulating their engineering work to a broad audience, an important step in developing communication skills.

This paper will present a complete analysis of quantitative data from the initial offering, including final project rubric scores, pre-/post-survey results, and faculty design-review feedback. Analysis is expected to show statistically significant gains in design self-efficacy and clear evidence of effective teamwork and successful hardware–software integration, as measured by final project evaluations. These assessment results will be analyzed and presented in the paper, which will also detail the complete pedagogical model and assessment instruments. It offers a scalable and adaptable template for other first-year engineering programs seeking to integrate rigorous technical skills development with socially relevant, project-based learning experiences. The cross-institutional toolbox will be developed to enable learning analytics, reuse, adaptation, and a community-driven ecosystem. By engaging students in socially conscious engineering from the outset, the MotoVida Challenge helps foster a durable engineering identity firmly rooted in both technical competence and social responsibility.

Authors

Dr. Umar Iqbal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7683-5045 Illinois State University [biography]

Dr. Umar Iqbal, Associate Professor and Founding Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Illinois State University, has 15+ years in autonomous systems, multi-sensor fusion, robotics, control, and navigation. He has 50+ publications (1,050+ citations; h-index 17), $1.5M+ in funding, and contributions spanning MEMS-INS, GPS integration, automotive radar, LiDAR landing-zone detection, and GNSS-resilient sensor fusion. An educator, he has designed 25+ courses and earned honors including NSF support and MSU teaching accolades.
Dr. Md Hafizur Rahman Illinois State University [biography]

Dr. Md Hafizur Rahman is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Illinois State University. His research focuses on engineering education, sustainable design, and the integration of mechanical and electrical systems in humanitarian engineering projects. He has led interdisciplinary initiatives to develop project-based learning modules, including hands-on fieldwork in rural and underserved communities. Dr. Rahman actively mentors first-year engineering students through design challenges like MotoVida, helping them apply core engineering principles to real-world problems with social impact.
Salil Bavdekar http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4113-991X Illinois State University [biography]

Dr. Salil Bavdekar is a Founding Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Illinois State University, joining the university in 2024 to build the newly formed College of Engineering. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida. His research in the interconnected fields of engineering mechanics and materials science focuses on understanding and manipulating the behavior of materials under extreme conditions (high temperature and pressure), with a particular focus on structural ceramics for aerospace, defense, and energy applications. He applies a combination of theoretical analyses, computational simulations, experimental investigations, and data-driven approaches to uncover the links between material chemistry, microstructure, mechanical properties, and engineering performance. Drawing on his expertise in ceramic materials, he authored a book chapter titled “Failure Mechanisms of Ceramics Under Quasi-Static and Dynamic Loads: Overview” in the Handbook of Damage Mechanics.
Dr. Matt Aldeman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0482-9794 Illinois State University [biography]

Matthew Aldeman serves as the founding Associate Dean of the ISU College of Engineering, where he leads the first year engineering program and the General Engineering undergraduate major. Prior to the College of Engineering, Aldeman served as an Associate Professor in the ISU Department of Technology, where he taught in the Sustainable & Renewable Energy and Engineering Technology programs and served as program coordinator for the Sustainable & Renewable Energy program. Matt joined the Technology department faculty after working at the ISU Center for Renewable Energy for five years. Before coming to ISU, he worked at General Electric as a wind project site manager at the Grand Ridge and Rail Splitter wind projects in central Illinois. Matt’s experience also includes service in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear propulsion officer, leader of the Reactor Electrical division on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, and Gunnery Officer on the destroyer USS O'Bannon. Matt is an honors graduate of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University, a Master of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Prof. Chaomin Luo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7578-3631 Mississippi State University [biography]

Dr. Chaomin Luo received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He also earned an M.Sc. degree in engineering systems and computing from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from Southeast University. Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Mississippi State University. His research interests include engineering education, robotics, control, automation, and robotics education. He is Associate Editor in 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2019). He is Tutorials Co-Chair in the 2020 IEEE Symposium Series on Computational Intelligence. Dr. Luo was the recipient of the Best Paper Awards in ASEE2024, Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics (Journal) 2024, IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation, International Conference on Swarm Intelligence, and SWORD Conference. Dr. Luo is active nationally and internationally in his research field. He was the Program Co-Chair in 2018 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation (IEEE-ICIA’2018). He was the Plenary Session Co-Chair in the 2021 and 2019 International Conference on Swarm Intelligence, and he was the Invited Session Co-Chair in the 2017 International Conference on Swarm Intelligence. He was the General Co-Chair of the 1st IEEE International Workshop on Computational Intelligence in Smart Technologies (IEEE-CIST 2015), and Journal Special Issues Chair, IEEE 2016 International Conference on Smart Technologies (IEEE-SmarTech), Cleveland, OH, USA. He was Chair and Vice Chair of IEEE SEM - Computational Intelligence Chapter and was a Chair of IEEE SEM - Computational Intelligence Chapter and Chair of Education Committee of IEEE SEM. He has organized and chaired several special sessions on topics of Intelligent Vehicle Systems and Bio-inspired Intelligence in reputed international conferences such as IJCNN, IEEE-SSCI, IEEE-CEC, IEEE-CASE, and IEEE-Fuzzy, etc. He has extensively published in reputed journals and conference proceedings, such as IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, IEEE Transactions on SMC, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, IEEE-ICRA, and IEEE-IROS, etc. Dr. Luo serves as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, International Journal of Robotics and Automation, Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics, and Intelligence and Robotics.
Reid D Jockisch

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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