Engineering Explorations

Start with a First-year Engineering Course

Get your first exposure to the engineering profession and its various disciplines.

Develop skills in:

problem-solving
computation
communication

As a first-year engineering student at Michigan Tech you will automatically become part of a learning community of about twenty students. During the fall semester you’ll get to know one another, while taking the same core courses.

You will also enter into a collaborative team with two or three other students in your first-year engineering course. Your group will join forces on small assignments during class, and on large team projects outside of class, functioning much like a professional engineering team. At Michigan Tech you will experience collaborative engineering teamwork right from the start.

ENG 1101 - Engineering Analysis and Problem Solving

An introduction to the engineering profession and to its various disciplines. Focuses on developing problem-solving skills, computational skills, and communication skills. Through active, collaborative work, students work on teams to apply the engineering problem-solving method to "real-world" problems.

Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-0-5)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Pre-Requisite(s): (MA 1031(C) or MA 1032(C) or MA 1120(C) or MA 1160(C) or MA 1161(C) or MA 1121(C) or MA 2160(C) or MA 3160(C)) and (Spatial Visualization Score >= 19 or ENG 1002(C))

A sample of team projects:

3D solid modeling
Autonomous robot
Alternative power generation
Ethics case studies
Human-powered vehicle
Chemical batch reactions
Programming a physical robot
Engineering innovations and technology

Use Active Learning

In a lecture-based class, it can take time to get feedback from the professor. That feedback is typically based on graded homework assignments or exams. By then the class had moved on to other topics.

At Michigan Tech, first-year engineering courses are not lecture-based. Instead they are active. Your professor will invest part of class introducing a new topic, and then give you the time to work on activities with your team. As your team grapples with a problem, your professor will go from team to team providing feedback as you need it.

Explore Your Future Possibilities

Whether you have been admitted directly to a discipline degree program or are still undecided, learn the breadth of opportunity available within the College of Engineering.

As part of your first-year experience in the fall semester, you will have the opportunity to attend several Engineering Explorations. Explorations help you to make an informed decision about your choice of major. These special sessions for first-year students are held by the engineering departments at Michigan Tech. You'll learn more about the breadth of work and career opportunities associated with engineering disciplines and degree programs.

In an open-house atmosphere, you'll mingle with faculty, upper-class students, and academic advisors. You'll also tour facilities and learn about job placement, research, and degree curricula.