Evaluation criteria

The jury considered the following criteria when evaluating the 2012 projects:

• Successful collaboration of faculty, students, and licensed professional engineers
• Benefit to public health, safety, and welfare
• Multidiscipline and/or allied profession participation
• Knowledge or skills gained
• Effectiveness of display board, abstract, and project description

The scope of the criteria is intentionally broad to accommodate a wide range of project types from different engineering disciplines. The following questions are provided as guidance in preparing submissions; not all questions may apply to a particular project.

Successful collaboration of faculty, students, and licensed professional engineers

• Were licensed professional engineers (P.E.s) and/or engineer interns (E.I.s) involved?
• How did the students, faculty, and P.E.s/E.I.s interact?
• What did the students learn through the collaboration that would not have been learned in the classroom?

Benefit to public health, safety, and welfare

• Did the project include aspects that affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public?
• How was public protection addressed?
• Which project features raised students’ awareness about the impact of engineering decisions?
• Did the project highlight how engineering can help solve problems faced by communities nationally or worldwide?
• Did the project foster student self-reliance, cooperation, or responsibility?
• Did the project address sustainability?

Multidiscipline and/or allied profession participation

• Was more than one engineering discipline involved? (for example, mechanical and electrical engineering)
• Did the project include other professions? (for example, architecture or accounting)
• Was more than one branch of a particular engineering discipline involved? (for example, two branches of civil engineering, such as geotechnical and transportation)

Knowledge or skills gained

• What knowledge/skills did the students gain?
• How were the knowledge/skills gained important to professional practice?
• Did the project include consideration of professional practice concepts such as project management, ethics, contracts, or law?

Effectiveness of display board, abstract, and project description

• Was the display board a useful supplement to the project description?
• Were the abstract and project description well written and easy to understand?
• Were the pertinent facts included?
• Did the abstract accurately summarize the project description?