Columbia Students

First-Year Design Course

Since its transformation into a community-based learning experience in 2001, “Engineering Fundamentals Using Advanced Computing Technologies," also known as the first-year design course, has been at the forefront of the Engineering School’s community engagement efforts.

The course is not intended simply teach engineering design but also to help students develop the necessary skills to become leaders of a new generation of socially responsible engineers and technological experts. To navigate the course successfully, students must learn to manage complex projects and solve problems they encounter along the way. Moreover, this real-world experience, coming right at the beginning of students college careers, is coupled with projects that emphasize the social and cultural implications of engineering design, and the beneficial role that engineering can play in today’s society. In developing this course, SEAS worked under the firm belief that real-world experience dramatically improves the educational experience for students.

Unlike most attempts at service learning, the SEAS first-year design course emphasizes creating tangible results for community partners. It engages in projects that community groups and partner organizations identify based on formal needs analyses and asset mapping, rather than on projects that the University develops and offers the community. Through this course, SEAS has successfully addressed the needs of many local organizations, not-for-profit enterprises, and government agencies. Projects have focused on three main areas:

  1. Adaptive technologies, such as a sandwich holder for disabled students at the Henry Viscardi School (which serves New York City students with severe physical disabilities and health impairments) and a playground swing for those confined to wheelchairs.
  2. Urban problems, such as designing interactive maps for the Wildlife Conservation Society, better known as the Bronx Zoo, greenroofs for older local buildings, and a headquarters layout for the 125th Street Business Improvement District.
  3. Educational challenges, such as innovative layouts for multi-use classrooms in local public schools and a universally accessible educational greenhouse.
SEAS defines project success in terms of tangible results for community partners as well as class learning objectives and intended outcomes.
At present, SEAS is the only engineering school in the United States to require community-based learning for all entering students, with more than 340 students working on more than 70 different projects per year.