Managing Projects For Success: Integrating CDIO And Management Skills

The school of engineering at Taylor’s university (Malaysia) adopts a project-based education system where students need to be involved in a multidisciplinary group projects each semester. These projects are exhibited and judged in an end-of-semester Engineering Fair that is organised by the students’ society, the Society of Engineering and Technology (SET). This paper reports on integrating the delivery and the assessment of a project management module, a design module and the organisation of the engineering fair in the attempt of providing an authentic experience to the students involved. This is achieved through getting the students registered for the “Managing Projects for Success” module in semester 4 to act as “Project Managers” to student teams registered for “Engineering Design and Communication” offered at semester 1 and for different tasks needed for the engineering fair. This is designed to provide both the senior and junior students a unique more realistic experience in both project management and design.