<p>Hello, </p>
<p>Can any engineering students let us know what you think are the positives and negatives to the engineering program at Rice? </p>
<p>We saw the Design Kitchen and that was impressive but have you used it. What year were you when you do use it? </p>
<p>What was your experience for the first year or two? When did you or have you done research or significant projects? </p>
<p>Thanks,
Snow</p>
<p>We did our senior design project there (chemical engineers). The computer lab was very useful for working in groups and collaborating on projects. Other senior design groups from different majors (bioE, Elec) use OEDK extensively. People build their prototypes and test their projects in OEDK. There are lots of tools and equipment for this purpose.</p>
<p>It is where most engineering seniors will spend a decent chunk of senior design.</p>
<p>Pros: focus on design work early on, continual improvement (the relatively young bioengineering department has been VERY responsive to student feedback), lots of international programs and internships, solid capstone design courses, majors become close-knit groups of people, lots of relevant extracurriculars (engineers without borders, programs helping kids love engineering, etc), the OEDK, VERY easy to do research. Those are just in general - if you have any specific program in mind, I would be happy to elaborate.</p>
<p>Cons: A work load your social science roommate will never understand (this, again, varies major-to-major; civil engineers are a bit lighter, bioengineers are a bit heavier), some long lab classes (I’m spending 10 hours per week in one that counts for 1 credit hour), large intro classes (but this will only last a semester or two and is common at most schools).</p>
<p>I honest-to-god wrote a blog post earlier this week about how much I love the Design Kitchen. It’s a little riddled with profanity, but here’s the [url=<a href=“http://■■■■■■/tNISPZ]link[/url”>http://■■■■■■/tNISPZ]link[/url</a>] if you’re interested. I’m currently working there for my capstone design project (building a system for a hospital ward in a developing country to alert nurses when babies fall into sleep apnea), had another project there my junior year (diagnostic device for a parasitic disease), and work there a bit on the weekends for Engineers Without Borders. There are also some brand new (and very popular) freshmen design courses that use the design kitchen.</p>
<p>I’m a current freshman and I am very happy with my decision to go to Rice. One of my favorite things about the engineering school is the flexibility of the curriculum. (err, well, the freshman curriculum. It will get less flexible once I declare my major, as their are just certain courses you are required to take.) I am able to explore many different disciplines of engineering while completing prerequisites for whatever major I choose.</p>
<p>My current schedule is about half engineering courses (multivariable calculus, intro to engineering computation, intro to civil/environmental engineering). The rest of my schedule is composed of distribution courses. Your freshman year experience will vary depending on the amount of AP/IB credit you have. More credit means more flexibility.</p>
<p>I have not yet used OEDK. There are two freshman engineering design courses that do use that facility. Again, these are freshman only courses. If you want to take a design course, you can starting your first semester.</p>
<p>As far as research goes, professors are always looking for dedicated undergraduates. I decided to wait on that right now because I am not really sure what department I would want to do research in and want to use my freshman year to explore.</p>