Final countdown: Senior assignments allow students to showcase four years of hardwork
Neal Gough
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News
Seniors had one last hurdle to jump before graduation, and the best of the best displayed their senior assignment projects Tuesday, ranging from raising awareness to driving an off-road buggy.
According to Director of Assessment Victoria Scott, there are 44 major programs at SIUE, and each of them has some variation of a senior assignment. The senior projects on display at the senior showcase were chosen by faculty as the best of the senior projects from the summer and fall 2008 semesters and the spring 2009 semesters.
"For four straight years, SIUE has been recognized by U.S. News and World report for having an outstanding capstone experience," Scott said.
According to the Office of Assessments Web site, in "America's Best Colleges 2009," SIUE joined 17 other institutions of higher learning, including Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the "Programs to Look for: Senior Capstone" category.
"It is a culminating experience that pulls together everything," Scott said.
According to Scott, there were 70 projects in various forms including presentations, posters, performances and even a Baja car.
The Baja car that Scott spoke of was built by senior mechanical engineering majors Scott Brinkmann from Argenta, Donald Owens from Baylis, Ryan Jozwiak from Dalton City and Eric Lamcyk from Nashville, Ill.
According to Owens, the senior mechanical engineering projects are chosen by the students, but must be approved by a mechanical engineering professor.
"The senior design project gives us, as students, a chance to take the theories and principles we learn in class and apply them to a physical project," Owens said. "It helps to bridge the gap between the classroom and real world situations that we will encounter in our careers upon completion of our degree."
According to Jozwiak, the frame of the car was built and designed completely by the senior design team. They used a program called SolidWorks to cut, bend and drill the bars so they could be welded together.
According to Director of Assessment Victoria Scott, there are 44 major programs at SIUE, and each of them has some variation of a senior assignment. The senior projects on display at the senior showcase were chosen by faculty as the best of the senior projects from the summer and fall 2008 semesters and the spring 2009 semesters.
"For four straight years, SIUE has been recognized by U.S. News and World report for having an outstanding capstone experience," Scott said.
According to the Office of Assessments Web site, in "America's Best Colleges 2009," SIUE joined 17 other institutions of higher learning, including Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the "Programs to Look for: Senior Capstone" category.
"It is a culminating experience that pulls together everything," Scott said.
According to Scott, there were 70 projects in various forms including presentations, posters, performances and even a Baja car.
The Baja car that Scott spoke of was built by senior mechanical engineering majors Scott Brinkmann from Argenta, Donald Owens from Baylis, Ryan Jozwiak from Dalton City and Eric Lamcyk from Nashville, Ill.
According to Owens, the senior mechanical engineering projects are chosen by the students, but must be approved by a mechanical engineering professor.
"The senior design project gives us, as students, a chance to take the theories and principles we learn in class and apply them to a physical project," Owens said. "It helps to bridge the gap between the classroom and real world situations that we will encounter in our careers upon completion of our degree."
According to Jozwiak, the frame of the car was built and designed completely by the senior design team. They used a program called SolidWorks to cut, bend and drill the bars so they could be welded together.
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