Thursday, May 4, 2017, 3:00PM – 4:00PM, 210 Hodson Hall
“Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen at Rice University: Lessons learned in the early years”
Link to view Lecture: https://jh.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=77b7cf5e-aba5-4479-a262-8a061a1fd112
Presented by Professor Maria Oden
Director, Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, George R. Brown School of Engineering, Rice University
In this presentation, Dr. Maria Oden will present the short 7 year history of the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) at Rice University where students are exposed to unique hands-on design experiences and opportunities to test and carry ideas to their intended point of application. An overview of the facility itself and how it fosters design, prototyping and technology evaluation will be provided. This presentation will also provide a review of the goals and longer term impact of the program.
The OEDK has truly shifted the culture of engineering design at Rice, bringing together students with various perspectives to collaborate on multidisciplinary teams. Undergraduates using the OEDK represent the eight different engineering disciplines, as well as architecture, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Since its inception in 2009, use of OEDK has increased from about 250 to over 1200 undergraduate students annually. Examples of real-world design challenges and their solutions, from the energy industry to medical technologies, will be presented. Specific examples and demonstrations from projects in the past several years will be used to illustrate major points in the presentation. Data demonstrating the growth and impact of this new education paradigm will also be shared. Questions and discussion will be encouraged!
As director of Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK), an appointment received in 2008 with the opening of the 20,000-square-foot design studio, Oden collaborates with Rice faculty members to develop and implement engineering design and innovation curriculum programs for undergraduate students. The OEDK houses ready access to all the tools, supplies and resources students need as they work in teams to invent, test, and carry ideas and devices to their intended point of application. It is also in this innovation space that students are presented with the unique hands-on engineering design challenges brought to Oden’s attention by institutes of the Texas Medical Center, industry, and local community leaders and international partners. Throughout this cumulative learning process, OEDK faculty and partners also serve as mentors who give students the expertise and guidance as they need to succeed.