Group Assessment

This project will teach a number of fundamental engineering principles. The project encompasses many engineering disciplines such as environmental engineering (decontaminating the water), chemical engineering (mass balances), mechanical engineering (pumps and motors), aerospace engineering (fluid flows), and computer science (control software and best path algorithm). Students will learn simple software engineering, basic chemistry (neutralizing an agent in the water), and applied mathematics (lowest cost--path and supplies). They will also learn to work as a team on a multidisciplinary engineering project. Concepts such as planning out the project ahead of time (the written proposal to the town council), meeting minimum design constraints, and working with a budget will be emphasized throughout the project.

This project will develop specialized skills in using computers. Each student will need to have a general familiarity with C in order to get the entire system functioning (controlling the flow of the Na2CO3 solution according to pH feedback). In the realm of Chemistry, students will learn the concept of neutralization of acids by bases. The students will learn analytical chemistry (varying concentrations). The challenge of building a pump will give the students hands-on experience in fluid dynamics.

To assess student performance on the lessons from this lab, there are a variety of options. The first and foremost determinant should be the grade (and consequently success) each group had with the project. In order to simply meet the objectives (and not even think about reducing costs), a great team effort must be produced. It's hard to imagine that one person could do all this work in such a short time frame. However, it is still important to see how each individual picked up the key concepts. A general computer skills test could be given, as well as a "concepts" exam. Small quizzes could also be given on a weekly basis to test concepts that couldn't otherwise be easily combined for one large test.