Senior Design: Experience CEE

 

 

Kyla D’Sa and her perspective working on her senior project with her teammates on the Redesign of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Reach Pedestrian Bridge. 

 

 

Florencia Dayan and Ryan Duncan perspective working on their senior project with their teammates on the Redesign of the Hearst Tower in New York City.

What is the CEE Senior Design Experience?

The CEE Senior Design Experience spans over two semesters. The senior design capstone course (CE 4341 and CE 4342) provides students with the opportunity to comprehend the different aspects of Civil Engineering design in an integrated but open-ended design project. For instance the three projects selected for this coming semester are :

• Restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in DC
• Redesign of the Kennedy Center Pedestrian Bridge in DC
• The Hearst Tower in New York City

Designing these iconic structures provides CEE senior students with the experience of a Total System Design as applied to the profession. Each design team produces its work based on the concepts and techniques drawn from project management, cost analysis, and engineering design principles, which they have learned in previous classes. The students are divided in teams, and each team is responsible for completion of the design, preparation of a written technical report, and presentation of the final design to a team of judges. The students are also responsible for naming their “assumed to be” design firms logo and name. This effort enhances students’ team skills and provides a means for them to develop the necessary team building skills. An important aspect of design engineering firms nowadays, is the constant interaction with clients. This is an important development of students in this class, because they are also given the responsibility of developing posters for their projects. At the end of the Spring Semester students present their work to members of the CEE faculty and the CEE advisory board who are practicing engineers and many of whom are registered professional engineers. As such, students interact directly with the advisory board members in the GW CEE Senior Design Showcase.

Restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in DC