The Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the ME Knowledge Lab.
The lab, located in the basement of the Reber building, is an area for undergraduate students to attend lab classes, collaborate and work hands-on with the latest technology.
Classes focus on real-world problems, encourage critical-thinking skills instead of replicating experiments, and challenge students to concentrate on systems-level topics. These topics include advanced manufacturing and energy, autonomy and robotics, big data, bioengineering, and sustainability.
An example of how the classes encourage critical thinking is students tasked with understanding how a smart watch classifies human activity. Students would review basic statistics for data analysis and then apply statistical knowledge to extract features from data. This teaches students how to understand the data input and output relationship so they can create their own custom algorithm.
“We are so excited to welcome our students into the new facility,” Mary Frecker, ME department head, Penn State Center for Biodevices director and Riess chairwoman in Engineering, said. “With the successful construction, in tandem with the new curriculum, our students will be better prepared to begin their careers as mechanical engineers.”
Construction on the lab began a year ago.