3.003 Principles of  Engineering Practice

Principles in Engineering Practice, an undergraduate subject, introduces students to the interdisciplinary nature of 21st-century engineering projects with three threads of learning: a technical toolkit, a social science toolkit, and a methodology for project-based learning. Students encounter the social, political, economic, and technological challenges of engineering practice by participating in real engineering projects with faculty and industry; this semester’s major project focuses on the engineering and economics of solar cells. Student teams create prototypes and mixed media presentations with exercises in project planning, analysis, design, optimization, demonstration, reporting and team building. The subject was recently approved as an elective subject for MIT’s new energy studies minor.

3.003 is now a collaboration between the University of Tokyo and MIT as a joint introductory engineering subject that first met face-to-face in Japan in May 2010. Funded by the Dean of Undergraduate Education, the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, and MIT’s Council on Educational Technology, the subject successfully implemented technology to teach the same curriculum in two locations, bridging both time zones and cultures. 

Last May, a small group of MIT students traveled to Japan with Prof. Lionel Kimerling and Mindy Baughman to meet their University of Tokyo classmates and participate in an all-day seminar where they presented their 3.003 final projects and heard related talks by esteemed Japanese professors and industry leaders. The MIT group also traveled to Kamakura near Tokyo to see the home of “The Big Buddha”, to enjoy meals of soba, sushi, and tempura, and to navigate the complexities of the Tokyo subway. Prior to the trip, MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) personnel gave the students an introduction to Japanese culture in order to help them better understand the society and the role engineering plays in it. Undergraduates participating in the trip were Monica Isava, Ranjeetha Bharath, and Garrett Lau. This coming fall, 3.003 will return to Tokyo with a new group of students.

The 3.003 curriculum was developed in 2007 and originally funded by a d’Arbeloff grant. 
---Mindy Baughman