 The EID Programme
The Engineering Innovation and Design Programme (EID, or formerly known as IHPT - In-House Practical Training) is an integral part of the second-year MAE curriculum. The programme enables students to experience some practical learning in preparation for an engineering or technopreneur career in the new Knowledge Based Economy. This programme encourages students to propose team-based projects, plan and develop the team ideas under the guidance of mentors and as such excites the imagination of aspiring engineers, innovators and technopreneurs.
The EID System Developed by CITS CITS had worked with Dr Sivakumar Appa Iyer from MAE in 2002 to design a system to help cut down much of the manual tasks involved in the programme. One of the interesting ideas implemented was the formation of student groups. Each group comprises 12 students. As there are close to 800 students involved, it is quite difficult for students to seek each other out to form groups. The system has made it easier by providing a one-stop centre of information. Using the system, potential group leaders would propose a project and students can opt to join in the groups after contacting the leader. This way, the system can ensure that no student joins more than one group. As an added feature, the system can also ensure that for specialisation groups, the number of Design or Mechatronics students does not exceed a preset number. With this implementation, it is very fascinating to see the various groups forming up gradually. This frees up the time and effort the administrators used to spent to accomplish these tasks. With this grouping information, the administrators can then plan the time-table for the 5-week programme.
 As the programme begins, it is crucial that students and staff can access their time tables and their project information timely. The students also used the system to give peer appraisal and feedback. Lecturers can generate the student lists and enter marks via the system. All these activities can be monitored by the administrators to check for completion.
CITS' role has been significant to the programme to keep it running smoothly and cater to changes quickly. We are grateful to Dr Sivakumar and his committee for being patient as we tried our best to cater to their requests. We look forward to improving the system further for next year's exercise.
[Koah Fong received a letter of compliments from Dr Sivakumar on 13 June 2006. The letter of compliments is also published in this issue of iTzone.]
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