Dayton Engineer

By Morgan Brewster, marketing communications intern

During the Fall 2020 semester, first-year students in the Engineering Design and Development class, EGR 103, had the chance to partner with clients around the Dayton area to work towards creating a better community. 

Students were able to connect with community partners including CityWide Community Development, Homefull, Gem City Market, No Longer Strangers and more. With these partners, students were able to redesign and engineer solutions to real-life problems and challenges within the Dayton area. 

There was also an opportunity for students to be hired as a liaison between the class and community partners, creating a great leadership opportunity. “With COVID-19, I didn’t want to be a drain for our community partners that needed to be addressing the needs of their communities,” said Beth Hart, professor of EGR 103. “We hired students who had done a semester immersion, and they became the liaison between our class and community partners.”

First-year student Daniel Deddens recaps his experience, “EGR 103 has taught me a lot during this time of transitioning into college. From the group projects with my peers to learning about our community from the upperclassmen, EGR 103 has really shown me how to make an impact on the lives of others.”