We offer a variety of multiple semester project experiences where first-year undergraduate through professional master’s students earn course credit while gaining real-world experience.
Recruitment occurs every fall with a common application deadline in mid-October for Faculty Research and Industry Sponsored Teams.
Faculty Research
Under the direction of a Faculty Principal Investigator (PI), teams of 12 to 45 students are flexibly structured into sub-teams and collaborate on projects that support the PIs research agenda.
- Students develop research experience and team skills over multiple semesters of engagement, preparing for a future in research and/or professional practice.
- There are apprentice positions reserved for 1st and 2nd year students. These do not require specific skills, only willingness to work hard and develop new skills.
- Students enroll in 2 ENGR course credits per term, with a 2-term minimum beginning in January.
- Students are encouraged to continue participating beyond the minimum 2-term requirement. More experienced students are a natural fit for leadership roles on the team as their knowledge grows over time.
Industry Sponsored Projects
Gain experience and solve real-world problems on an industry or non-profit project. Small teams of 5-7 students are guided weekly by dedicated faculty and sponsor mentors. International students on F1 visas must be eligible to use required CPT time for these projects.
- Students develop core translatable skills for professional practice.
- Complete a full design cycle from literature review to final project handover in one year.
- All industry sponsored projects begin in January and end in December, with participation in both semesters required (summer generally not included).
- Undergraduate students earn 7-8 credits; split over the 2-semester project. Graduate students earn a total of 4 credits, generally 2 credits each semester. Many students can earn degree course substitutions.
In addition to our main fall semester project recruitment, MDP offers a curricular (“for credit”) course structure for dedicated work on engineering-focused student organization teams.
Student Org Teams
Members of engineering student organizations can work with MDP to earn academic credit.
- Returning student organization members have the potential to earn academic credit for technically advanced work on the team.
- Any design-based engineering team with at least 3 majors represented, and a faculty advisor to supervise and grade their work, is eligible to earn academic credit.
- Over thirty engineering student organizations currently earn academic credit through MDP courses.
- Students can begin earning credit in either fall or winter semesters, once they have completed a full semester on the team.