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Introduction of mechatronics in pre-college programs and freshman design course in an active and cooperative learning framework

The burgeoning field of "Mechatronics" has been evolving over the last few decades as a new field of pedagogy within the engineering curricula. "Mechatronics" synergistically combines engineering mechanics, electronics, and computer technology. The development may be attributed to the growing number of applications and product development at the interfaces of traditional disciplinary boundaries within the broad area of engineering education. Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) is facilitating such efforts by encouraging engineering programs to promote design activity in multidisciplinary teams among engineering students. In this paper student activities related to Summer Engineering Bridge Program (SEBP) and "Introduction to Engineering Design", a required course for all freshman engineering majors at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) are discussed. SEBP is a NASA sponsored pre-college program for high school students in transition to college. The program is designed for prospective engineering majors and is designed to bridge the gap between high school education and expected standards for freshman engineering majors. Both the SEBP and the Introduction to Engineering Design course requires students to participate in a "mechatronic" design project while cooperating with one another in teams of four or five members.