A "Lattice" Approach to Design Education: Bringing Real and Integrated Design Experience to the Classroom through Engineering Design Days

While design is fundamental to engineering practice, modern training in engineering design has almost exclusively moved to the classroom, providing students little exposure to holistic, real-world design experiences that are well-integrated with the rest of the academic curriculum. In this paper, we perform a short review of how the model of engineering education in Canada has evolved over the last two centuries, identify the current deficiencies in teaching design in engineering curricula, and review how Chairs in Design Engineering at various Canadian engineering schools have tackled this identified need. We then describe in detail how this problem is being addressed at the University of Waterloo through Engineering Design Days. This approach is presented as a design "lattice" around which other curriculum threads (math, natural sciences, engineering science, design etc.) can grow in an integrated way. Different Design Days examples from various engineering programs are described to illustrate the general structure. We conclude by assessing the program’s impact and identifying opportunities for future development and assessment of the program’s effectiveness.