When you learn a new concept the first few problems are straightforward – variable a is x, variable b is y, put them in the second formula in the book and you get an answer. For more involved problems you will have to go through a number of steps to find the solution. But if you do the problem enough times it boils down to an algorithm and you know your way, and then you go to your work term and BAM! You are sometimes given problems that you have never seen in your courses before and even if you are familiar with the nature of analysis/data, it is not as straightforward as textbook problems.
UW promotes its co-op program as an opportunity to experience the workplace problems while learning the basics. Wouldn’t it be nice to catch a glimpse of some of these ‘real’ engineering problems and how they were approached in industry before even going into work terms? This is where case studies come into play.
A case study is a description of an actual problem, challenge or decision requiring situation. To begin with, case studies give the big picture; they describe a situation where an engineer working in a specific company was faced with a challenge. They allow you to put yourself in the shoes of the person making the decisions. The story makes the problem more engaging and enjoyable than chapter 12, problem 5a. Instead of waiting to go to work terms you get to see the application as you learn the concepts.
While case studies are a common practice in business courses, the concept is not as prevalent in engineering. We are all familiar with Case Histories, accounts of spectacular failures, as opposed to case studies, case problems, which are less notable success stories yet current, relevant, and as challenging. At the University of Waterloo, Waterloo Cases in Design Engineering (WCDE), lead by Professor Steve Lambert, was established to create design case studies for engineering undergraduate courses (http://design.uwaterloo.ca/ ). Many of you have already seen the EWB Rainwater Harvesting, Hydro Quebec or the Elora Home Heating case studies in 1A. WCDE aims to keep its collection of case studies up-to-date across all disciplines and to encourage professors to use cases in their courses.
The major resource used by WCDE to obtain material for case studies are student work term reports. Cases derived from WTRs balance complexity and applicability. They present problems that students have faced so they don’t place too high expectations for classroom assignments/projects while still presenting real problems. They also promote the Case Method of learning, which means learning as a group, and fostering teamwork. Since cases are written with the consent and appropriate background of the associated industries and companies, they can help you decide what field or company you want to target for your coming work terms.
Case studies broaden your horizon of work experience. Even if you had amazing job experiences in each of your 6 work terms, that is only 6 experiences out of the hundreds of engineering jobs. Case studies supplement your co-op experiences by presenting problems on a wide variety of topics. It is like coming in on the first day of a study term and knowing what everyone else in your class did on their co-op terms. Even if you have worked at those companies or similar fields, others’ experiences might interest you more.
As a co-op student working with WCDE, I read through a variety of work reports regularly; during the process I really liked one of the reports on dye sensitized solar cells, did some research and that gave me a direction for my 4th year design project. As I look back on 3 years of school, if I had seen a relevant case study in every course I would never have asked myself if that stuff ever gets used anywhere except for DWE blackboards.
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