Workshops/laboratories
As we noted, engineers design and build systems and products. In the CDIO Initiative, workshop and laboratory experiences support the theory-to-practice progression. Experiences in conceiving, designing, implementing and operating are woven into the curriculum. Workshops/ laboratories are key to the CDIO learning environment. They must support a number of the modes of active and hands-on learning including experimentation, social interaction, team building and team activity.

Since conceiving, designing, implementing and operating is the context of education, workshops and lab environments are organized around C, D, I and O. Conceive spaces are largely technology-free zones that encourage interpersonal interaction, and include team and personal spaces conducive to reflection and conceptual development. Facilities introduce students to digitally-enhanced collaborative design, and allow them to implement fabrication and hardware/software integration. It’s challenging to teach operation in an academic setting, but environments can be offered where students operate their own experiments as well as perform faculty-generated class experiments. Simulations of real operations, and digital links to real operations environments supplement experiences.

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