Subcontracting the senior design project in civil engineering

The concept of subcontracting tasks of the senior design project to students in other courses are discussed. The two-course design sequence, with its goal of enabling civil engineering students to experience the way that a civil engineering project is planned and designed in a typical engineering office setting, focuses on both the overall design process of a project and on design calculations. A typical civil engineering design comprises of identifying and defining project needs, research project background, and research resources and data needed for the project. The students are expected to have an understanding of many of the professional practice issues in civil engineering, at the end of the year-long project. The students are required to work with all stakeholders in the project. The subcontractors are all the classes within the university from which the project team can seek support.