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Who hasn’t dreamed of building a robot? Every ECE student at
OSU gets the chance to follow that dream as a freshman, and during
the succeeding four years these TekBots™ become electronic tutors,
enhancing hands-on learning in a very unique way.
Electrical Engineering professor Wojtek Kolodziej and Electrical
Engineering student Celia Hung team up to fine tune a TekBot™.
Hung says the hands-on work she’s done on her TekBot has reinforced
her interest in engineering and is one of the many reasons she’s
glad she chose to study engineering at OSU.
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At some point, it seems almost all
of us dream of building a robot.
Now, thanks to a $500,000 grant
from Tektronix, all freshmen entering OSU’s Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering gets to do just that—build a robot of their
very own, from the ground up. And that’s just the beginning.
During the succeeding four years,
these robots will become the constant companions of ECE students, who
will add to and enhance their robots by applying the theoretical knowledge
learned in the classroom to a tangible, real-world project—complete
with blinking lights, turning wheels, and electronic circuits. By the
time graduation rolls around, students will have created wireless, Internet-controlled
devices capable of amazing feats. Some students will leave OSU with sophisticated
product prototypes ready to go to market.
The program, called TekBots™,
is part of a dramatic College-wide thrust to innovate teaching and learning
by energizing the curriculum with exciting, hands-on platforms for learning
that teach multiple skills. In addition to engineering skills, TekBots
also help students learn teamwork, creativity, entrepreneurship, and communication.
When they take their robots back to their dormitory rooms, or home on
breaks, they have to explain the technology to non-engineering audiences
. . . and often answer questions about where exactly it is that they study
engineering. For many, it’s hard to imagine an engineering school
that encourages students to follow that childhood dream of building a
robot.
Terri Fiez, ECE Department Head
and creator of TekBots, plans to develop the program into a student-run
business enterprise that produces and markets the unique learning platform
to other educational institutions. The business venture would not only
generate funding for the department but also give students invaluable,
first-hand experience in the world of business.
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