Engineering Literacy for Undergraduates in Marine Science: A Case for Hands On

Abstract

Graduates in marine sciences most often lack basic engineering skills such as programming and robotics. Once they graduate, however, many of the available jobs require them to program (e.g., set a conductivity-temperature-depth sensor to sample at a specific time for a specific interval), collect data using sensors, and interface with robots (e.g., remotely operated vehicles, gliders, and floats). In general, whatever jobs they may land, the ability to teach themselves new skills will be required. We were inspired to develop the class described in this article by Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture (http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture), in which he described the Carnegie Mellon University Master of Science in Entertainment Technology program, where all the classes are project based.