Students mirrored professional engineering standards throughout project
May 2025 – Students in Drew University’s Principles of Engineering class spent the spring 2025 semester getting true hands-on experience.
Students with the prosthetic hand they built.
Students applied course lessons and skills to create four fully-functional prosthetic hands using the Instructional Technology Center’s “The Nest” Maker Space, which includes a 3D printer.
A Community-Based Learning course, the class recently sent the prosthetics to Zambia via e-NABLE, a global community of “digital humanitarians,” to assist those in need.
Throughout the semester-long project, students experienced what it is like to be an engineer, learning to problem solve, troubleshoot, and work collaboratively.
“It was amazing to watch the growth of the students throughout the course,” said Andrea Woodka, assistant teaching professor of chemistry. “By the end of the semester they were working and producing like real-world engineering teams.”
The students experienced the full engineering process, from the design phase to the building of the product.
“This was not just another homework assignment or project shared with a professor,” said Woodka. “It was a real product that will be used by a real person.”
An intentional aspect of the project was fostering true spirit of collaboration, something specifically mentioned by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) as one of several required student skills.
“These days, for students, group work usually just means dividing up parts of a project for each individual to do and then just putting them together,” said Woodka. “Most of my students said this project was unlike any they had ever done because teamwork was essential. There was no way to be successful without it.”
Throughout the semester, students led the self-governed projects themselves, created a collaborative environment, established goals, planned tasks, and met the objective. A perfect grade with a real-world outcome and transferable skills.
