Design Expo FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Can't find the answer you're looking for here? Contact engin-mdp@umich.edu!

It is material/information that may be protected under the patent, trademark, and/or copyright laws. Intellectual Property projects will typically require you and your team to sign a confidentiality agreement at the beginning of the term. Always review this condition with your instructor and sponsor before registering for Design Expo.
Your project will have a scheduled “presentation time” on the day of Design Expo in a private conference room. Your presentation time will be scheduled by your faculty or by the Design Expo coordinator. Typically, faculty will schedule presentation times. This will also mean that your project will not be displayed for the public. Again, confirm with your faculty member before registering for Design Expo as an IP project.
Your team will receive an easel only.
Your team will receive a table, table cover and an easel. In the event that space is limited in your section, you may find it helpful to put the easel on your table along with any display prototypes.
Yes, power strips and extension cords will be provided for teams who indicate that electricity is required. Every effort is made to locate your project adjacent to an electric outlet. All cords must be secured to the floor to avoid hazards (tape will be provided). All cords, power strips, and tape must be returned to the Design Expo coordinator by 4pm on the day of the Design Expo. Plan for this.
Yes, your poster should be mounted on poster board or form core. There are several locations on North Campus that will do this including Ground Works, the Duderstadt 3D Center, and Fed Ex. Ground Works | phone number: (734) 647-5739 | groundworks@umich.edu Duderstadt 3D Center | phone number: (734) 615-9699 | emaslows@umich.edu Fed Ex (2609 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor) | phone number: (734) 996-0050 | usa0465@fedex.com
Teams can arrive to set-up anytime between 9 am – 11:45 am. Design Expo starts promptly at 12pm. All projects must be set and ready to display by 12 pm.
Each team will be assigned a specific easel/table and location in the Expo areas. You will be notified of your location within 7 days of the Expo. Your easel/table will be labeled with your name and number.
This is a project that will not fit on a 4'×2' table. However, if your project is very large/heavy (larger than 10’x10x10’ or exceeds 250 lbs.) you may need to coordinate your delivery time with the Design Expo coordinator.
The size of your poster depends on your course. Please check with your faculty/GSI about the size. We recommend posters be no larger than 48” x 36”.

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ENGR 456

ENGR 456: Mentorship/Leadership Experience

Prior to ENGR 456:

Students should have completed a minimum of two semesters of significant, curricular participation on team/organization in multidisciplinary engineering design at the 300 level or above.

Role within host organization:

Students take on the role of leader or mentor focusing on engineering, engineering instruction and/or engineering design. Ideally the organization they mentor will be the same as their multi-term project; however, other outside organizations could be allowed by petition (this is often the case if the multi-term project organization no longer exists).

Examples include:

    • Leadership role within a student competition team (Chief Engineer, Subteam Lead, senior member)
    • Mentor for MDP-organized partner sponsored projects, leadership position within faculty research groups
    • Mentor/instructor to a Michigan Engineering Zone team
    • Class mentor for ME 350
    • FIRST Robotics mentor

Mentoring portion:

Please note that organizations may have requirements in addition to those listed below and a student may have personal goals which they wish to pursue.

Requirements:

    • Define a set of goals (2 minimum) that support the objectives of the host organization. The goals must be focused on the transfer of engineering skills/knowledge, development of people, development /improvement of the organization’s structure or capability, and/or the improvement of processes within the engineering organization. This experience may not be defined in terms of delivering an engineering technical function.  These goals are detailed in first writing assignment of the seminar.
    • Work toward achieving their goals while reflecting upon their personal experience obtained in their MDP multi-term project, their engineering education as a whole, and content (e.g., models and framework) presented in the seminar portion of the course.
    • The effort required is 54 hours (equivalent to 4 hours per week/14 weeks).
    • The achievement/effort is evaluated on a pass/fail basis.
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Requirements to earn credit on an MDP Project for ISD 503 Credit

ISD Requirements for earning 503 credit on an MDP project team:

  1. Good academic standing through the entire 2 semester project requirement
    1. Completed minimum 18 credits prior to semester with 503 enrollment  (Fall 2020 for the 2020 MDP cohort).
    2. Students may not receive 503 credit based on the 1st semester of an MDP 2-semester project.
  2. Both the MDP Faculty Mentor and the ISD Program Director must approve student’s individual project proposal, which is due by July 1 (at the end of the first term of MDP)  Projects proposals may be written any time after the MDP Team’s Requirements Design Review has been completed (typically mid-February). The MDP Faculty Mentor will function as the ISD Faculty Advisor.
  3. The student is solely responsible for completing the proposal paperwork and correctly submitting to all parties, first to MDP Faculty Mentor and then to the correct ISD Grad Program Coordinator (who will send it to the Program Director).

Degree Programs and Graduate Program Coordinators:

Program Course Program Director Grad Program Coordinator
Automotive Engineering AUTO 503 Jim Freudenberg Ronda Hamilton
Energy Systems Engineering ESENG 503 Suljo Linic Ronda Hamilton
Global Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering AUTO 503 or MFG 503 Pingsha Dong Kathy Bishar
Program in Manufacturing MFG 503 Judy Jin Kathy Bishar
Systems Engineering and Design ISD 503 Robert Bordley Gail Carr

Click to browse, sort & filter by degree and course substitution here

  1. The student must receive approval for the 503 proposal from the ISD Program Director no later July 1 prior to the semester where they will utilize the substitution.   (Students are strongly encouraged to plan ahead.)
  2. Project proposals must be submitted and approved before a student may register for 503.
  3. In order to receive a Satisfactory Grade in 503, MDP Students must receive a grade of ENGR 599 with B- or better AND receive a Satisfactory Grade on their final report.
  4. 503 students must fulfill all MDP team requirements while enrolled in 503.

MDP Requirements

  1. Participation in “JumpStart” workshop (early January).
  2. Successful completion of all project assignments (Design Reviews, Peer Evaluations, Workshops, Poster Sessions, etc.).
  3. Consistent, successful, weekly team participation
  4. Average 8 hours effort / week

Term

Course Enrollment / Actions

Grade end of Winter Term

Grade end of Fall Term

 Winter   

ENGR 599, 1 Credit Hour

Grade: “Y” – Placeholder Grade for Winter Term. This converts to a letter grade at the end of the Fall Term.

  Letter Grade for ENGR 599, 1 credit placed in the   transcript in Winter term

 Summer  

Submit 503 Proposal to ISD (Due July 1) 
 Fall 

IF APPROVED:
Enroll in XXX 503, 3 Credit Hours

Grade 503 S/U

IF NOT APPROVED:
Enroll in ENGR 599, 3 Credit Hours

Letter Grade for ENGR 599, 3 Credits Fall  term

If students would like to complete an ISD 503 project outside of their MDP experience, they may enroll in ENGR 599 for 2 credit hours in each term: WN and FA.

The following 2019  projects were pre-approved by the ISD Department to fulfill 503 credit:

AUTO 503:

  • General Motors Optimization: Optimization of Current Control in Electric Motors
  • General Motors Waste Recovery: Engine Heat Waste Recovery
  • Isuzu Engine Technology: Next Generation Engine Technology Implementation

GAME 503:

  • General Motors Optimization: Optimization of Current Control in Electric Motors
  • General Motors Waste Recovery: Engine Heat Waste Recovery
  • Isuzu Engine Technology: Next Generation Engine Technology Implementation

MFG 503:

  • Detroit Manufacturing Systems: Quality Improvement Team
  • General Motors Optimization: Optimization of Current Control in Electric Motors
  • General Motors Waste Recovery: Engine Heat Waste Recovery
  • Isuzu Engine Technology: Next Generation Engine Technology Implementation
  • Radiant Solutions: Mobile Platform Deployed Synthetic Aperture Radar

SYSTEMS 503:

  • Axalta Paint Quality: Paint Quality Test Equipment Development
  • Radiant Solutions: Mobile Platform Deployed Synthetic Aperture Radar
  • Zenuity: Pedestrian HMI Interface Development for Autonomous Vehicles
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Requirements to earn credit on an MDP Project for ME Technical Elective Credit

Students with senior standing are eligible to earn Mechanical Engineering RISE project/ME 490 credit on pre-approved MDP Sponsored Projects (during the second semester of their project only). Students who successfully complete all requirements of ME 490 are able to count it for 400-level Technical Elective or Specialization Elective credit from the ME department.

Enrollment Plan: ME Students earning ME 490 credit on an MDP Project

Winter semester Fall semester
ENGR 355 or 455 (depending on standing) (4 credit hours) ME 490 (3 credit hours) counts as Technical Elective Credit

Click here to view all ME 490-eligible projects.

Instructions for MDP students

In order to earn ME 490 credit for their MDP project, students must complete all requirements of both courses (as outlined by the MDP program and the ME department).

  • To receive ME department credit for MDP projects utilizing ME 490, students must fulfill all ME RISE Program requirements.
  • Please see the ME RISE website for more information on the RISE requirements and process.
  • Students are responsible for recruiting a qualified ME faculty member to be their ME 490 instructor, enrolling in the appropriate ME 490 section and meeting weekly with their ME 490 instructor for project guidance. The MDP Project Faculty Mentor may be a qualified RISE faculty mentor.
  • Students are responsible for properly submitting their RISE proposal, and acquiring approval by posted deadlines.  Projects must involve significant ME content and may not be “build only” or project management.
  • To meet this requirement, students may need to extend a portion of the MDP team’s project scope and identify a specific deliverable for the project that is independent from effort by their teammates (though students may reference and cite relevant work from team members). The scope extension (RISE proposal) must have approval from the MDP Faculty Mentor and the ME 490 instructor.  (If the MDP Faculty Mentor is an ME RISE-approved mentor, they could be the same person.)
  • For ME 490 credit, students must participate in MEUS (ME UG symposium).  If the project has NDA or IP restrictions that constrain public presentations, students must indicate during the RISE application work with the ME department for accommodations to meet ME 490 final requirements.

Click here to view all ME 490-eligible projects.

The following 2019 MDP projects were pre-approved by the ME department to fulfill ME 490 credit:

  • Axalta Paint Quality: Paint Quality Test Equipment Development
  • BASF Helmets: Protective Sports Helmets – Optimizing Impact Mitigation Through Improved Polyurethane Shock Pads Systems
  • Bosch Path Planning: Robust Path Planning for Automated Vehicles
  • Matthaei Botanical Invasive Plants: Complex Composting for Invasive Plant Species
  • GM Autonomous Vehicle: Determine Duty Cycle for Autonomous Vehicle with a Hybrid Drive Unit
  • GM Fast Prototype: Fast Prototype Designing of Additive Manufacturing Heat Sinks
  • GM Waste Recovery: Engine Heat Waste Recovery
  • GM Optimization: Optimization of Current Control in Electric Motors
  • Isuzu Rings: Characterizing Material Failures within Transmission Synchro Rings
  • Isuzu Engine Technology: Next Generation Engine Technology Implementation
  • Northrop Grumman Martian Dust: Printing Martian Dust
  • Tubelite Lateral Torsional: Lateral Torsional Buckling – The Search for the Truth
  • UTC Res: Characterization of Resonance Phenomena in Aerospace Sensors
  • Yanfeng Airbag Deployment: Modeling Laminate Breakaway in Airbag Deployment
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Student-Created Projects

Requirements for credit for students seeking to earn credit through the ENGR x55 courses through a newly-forming group of students.

Through the Multidisciplinary Design Program, Michigan engineering students have an opportunity to earn credit for their engineering experiences outside of their normal curriculum study. Engineering teams and engineering organization activities provide an avenue for students to earn engineering credit while working on real world problems on a team of other UM students.

In order to earn academic credit for work on a student-initiated design team, teams must meet the following requirements:

  • Team must be student-initiated, Engineering-focused design team; with at least 3 unique majors represented.
  • Team must secure a faculty member to provide the credit.
  • Team must provide a team proposal, including the following things:
    • a team assignment for what your team will be accomplishing this year
    • stating why you choose to curricularize/have your team earn credit
    • the team structure/org chart/ideally in pictoral format (and how they relate to others in the team)
    • overall team objective/impact statement
    • plan for execution
    • timeline estimate
    • identify customers/clients/users (who team is delivering to); who would evaluate you (team lead/faculty/subteam lead)?
  • After your team is approved, each member of the team will need to complete an individual credit proposal and provide to your faculty advisor. The faculty advisor or team leads can then send the enrollment approval to MDP.
  • Team MUST do a Design Review – this is not a final report, but an opportunity to pull in people who can give you feedback that you can act on; can be at any time, scheduled for when makes sense for your team [can also do them for just your subteam]).
  • Suggested timeline:
    Team Action Timeline Example Date
    Confirm faculty mentor Early/mid-semester
    before earning credit    		 October or February
    Complete team proposal and email to MDP (to be approved by MDP Director) Mid-semester before earning credit with MDP November or March
    Complete individual proposals Before/during backpacking Mid-November or Mid-March
    Receive approval and course override from MDP Before the Add/Drop deadline December or April

In order to receive credit for their design experience, students are required to develop a proposal during the beginning of their activities a gain the approval through the Multidisciplinary Design Program.

The proposal should have the following components:

  • For each credit hour students are expected to spend 3-4 hours per week on the project. Provide an indication of time expenditures during the semester. This is a general estimate of an average week, and may vary widely during the course of the project.
  • The students should make a specific proposal of what they want to accomplish during the semester. Specific contributions to the project are much more important than time allocation estimates, and the bulk of the proposal should be spent in this area.
  • The students should propose peers who might provide input on their accomplishments.
  • The students will need to demonstrate what they achieved; either through a formal portfolio, the Design Reviews, or individual meetings. The proposal should outline how students will document their work.
  • Students are required to establish a meeting schedule with the faculty member to monitor progress.

After the proposal is developed it must be approved by the student team’s faculty member and/or a member of the faculty associated with the Multidisciplinary Design Program.

Click to see an example of a Student Initiated Team Proposal

(NOTE: This proposal is being shared with the author’s permission)

Please contact the MDP office with any questions.

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