ESC 101F Praxis I

This course is taught to all first-year undergraduate students in Engineering Science. It deals with experimentation, design, and communication, and provides a more practical perspective on theoretical material presented in other courses during the term. Praxis has a strong design component. Praxis I is special in this regard, since it gives Engineering Science students their first formal exposure to design. Located in their first term of university studies, the course seeks to define the initial direction of their journey towards the goal of becoming good designers, and also to create a design-centered context for their entire undergraduate program.

The specific goals of Praxis I are as follows: which is taught in the fall term of first year, the design component emphasizes the following goals:

1. Give students a realistic perspective on what engineering design actually is
2. Give students insight into the importance of values (including quantifiable requirements such as safety, function, and cost, as well as non-quantifiable values related to society, the environment, and culture) in determining the quality of designs
3. Introduce students to a basic conceptual framework for doing design
4. Introduce students to a small set of fundamental design skills, in particular drawing skills
5. Introduce students to the use of reference works of engineering as starting points in the design process
6. Establish a design-centered context for the the remainder of the curriculum, to enable students to understand the links between their other courses and their apprenticeship as designers

The design component of Praxis is run using the studio method. Students must complete several design projects during the term. They meet regularly in working sessions, in which members of course staff question them about their work in progress. Although projects are required to be individual efforts, interaction among students is encouraged.

There is interaction between the design and communication components of the course. Students are required to complete several reports on their designs containing both text and drawings.

The thematic focus of Praxis I is structural engineering. There are important links between the work in this course and other courses taken concurrently.

Projects

In 2005, students completed a preliminary design of a bridge to replace Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct spanning the Don Valley. The project by Serguei Bagrianski is indicative of the work completed by the students.

Prince Edward Viaduct, Toronto

In 2006, students completed a preliminary design of a bridge to expand the capacity of the existing crossing of the Niagara River betweeen Buffalo and Fort Erie from three to six lanes.

Peace Bridge over the Niagara River

Exhibition

Students in 2005 benefited from the exhibition The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy, which has held at the University of Toronto Art Centre from September 2005 to January 2006. This exhibition, of the work of four eminent Swiss structural engineers, demonstrated that works of engineering could satisfy the quantifiable criteria of safety, function, and cost, as well as be endowed with significance with regard to society, the environment, and culture. These works provided the class with a sound basis for critiquing other works of engineering, and a rich source of starting points for their own designs.

Design Competition

The Chair in Design Engineering has provided funding for a small design competition and exhibition of student projects in the new year following completion of the course. Finalists are selected by course staff and judged by an independent jury.

In 2006, projects prepared by the finalists were exhibited at the U of T Art Centre, alongside of the works of Maillart, Menn, Isler, and Ammann, the four engineers featured in The Art of Structural Design. In 2007, the projects were exhibited in the lobby of the Bahen Centre. The 2007 winners were Tamara Finley, Francesco Allamandi, and Jason Liang.

Praxis Design Exhibition in the Bahen Centre, 2007

The 2007 exhibition was mounted by graduate students Jason Salonga and Jamie McIntyre.

The course website gives a detailed description of course objectives, lecture notes, and a description of studio projects.

I have taught this course twice, in 2005 and in 2006.