Developing a multidisciplinary engineering program at Arizona state university's east campus

The purpose of this paper is to present some key elements of the design process used to create a new multidisciplinary undergraduate engineering program and document the emerging program model. The program will be housed in the newly created Department of Engineering at Arizona State University's East Campus and will award a BSE in Engineering degree; the program will seek accreditation under the ABET general engineering criteria. The new engineering program is being developed from a clean slate by a founding team that will begin implementation with its inaugural freshman class in Fall Semester of 2005. Elements of the design process discussed include: a preliminary planning process that focused on data gathering and feasibility assessment; the design process for student and program objectives and outcomes; the development of brand identity; design of a curricular structure; design of required engineering competencies that form a common foundation experience; and the design process for identifying program concentrations. Some observations and next steps are also presented.