Interdisciplinary Projects

What is Interdisciplinary Projects?

Interdisciplinary Projects (IDProjects) is a course for Virginia Tech undergraduates from any major to work on authentic projects with faculty, industry, community, and student project leaders. 

Students from different majors and academic levels join mentored teams of three to six students, where they contribute what they know, learn what the project requires, and collaborate to grow their ability to do team-based work.

Why should I take the IDProjects course?

It's real and impactful.

In IDProjects, you'll complete a project that solves a problem or fills a need.

• Industry-sponsored projects involve working with a professional client. Example: Developing a go/no-go gauge for an in-air refueling hose for military aircraft.
• Community-based projects involve working with community or nonprofit clients. Example: Building an AI-powered trail cam to tailor Huckleberry Trail resources for end users.
• Faculty projects support fundamental research. Example: Developing an automated hydroponic system for delivering water and nutrients to plants.
• Student design projects support collegiate competition teams. Example: Designing and building a splace exploration device as part of an Archimedes student design team.
• Entrepreneurial projects are student generated and support innovation. Example: Creating a novel home automation system and a plan to take it to market.

It's experiential.

For students, IDProjects can serve as a required undergraduate bridge experience. (Bridge experience approval is determined by your home academic program.) The course connects your classroom learning with a project-based experience in a way that prepares you for your future career. For instance:

• You'll learn communication skills as you do weekly progress reports, a planning report, a design review presentation, two performance evaluations, and a final report.
• You'll display and discuss your final project at the ID Expo, an end-of-semester gathering where industry partners, community members, and fellow students learn about and celebrate your work.

It's interdisciplinary and collaborative.

In IDProjects, the best solutions arise from diverse perspectives.

• You'll be assigned to an interdisciplinary team based on your skills, major, schedule, and stated project preferences. 
• You'll collaborate with students in a way that echoes what you'll encounter in many workplaces.

It offers support and mentorship.

To ensure your success, IDProjects offers

• project funding of $300 per team
• a designated workspace in the Surge Building
• instruction from a faculty member
• feedback and mentorship from academic and industry professionals who will guide you through the design process and enhance your learning experience

It grows with you.

Projects may continue across semesters, and you can enroll multiple times so you can build experience, deepen your expertise, preserve project knowledge, and move into leadership.

• Start in ENGE 2724, then progress to ENGE 4724. Multiple enrollment levels allow you to stay in the course for one, two, three, or more semesters. Some projects wrap up quickly. Others span multiple semesters.
• Enroll for 1–3 credits. Plan to spend about three hours per week outside of class per credit hour working on your project.
• Courses are offered in the evening to avoid conflict with your class schedule.

What does class look like?

IDProjects classes meet once a week with a faculty member, who lectures for 20-30 minutes, then allows team project time.

• Lecture topics and examples are tailored to meet the needs of teams.
• Weekly assignments throughout the semester may include written reports, papers, posters, and presentations.
• Students also receive feedback from the teaching team to polish their work before showcasing it at the IDExpo.

What will I learn?

In class, you'll cover topics like teamwork, project management, and development of professional reports. The takeaways from working in your teams are just as valuable:

• Communication, reflection, and portfolio building
• Confidence
• Conflict management
• Customer identification
• Goal identification
• Interdisciplinary collaboration
• Leadership
• Project planning and adaptation
• Prototyping
• Public speaking
• Stakeholder engagement and problem definition
• Technical and professional skill development

Who can participate?

• Sophomores and juniors from any academic major relevant to available projects are eligible to sign up.
• There are no prerequisites.
• This is a competitive class. We typically have more interested students than we can accept. Students are assigned to team projects on the basis of interest, skills, and academic discipline.

How do I sign up?

• Fill out the application form below. 
• Review the project catalog below before applying; you'll be asked to list your project preferences. Project availability and team needs change each semester.
• Once you've been assigned to a team, you'll be registered for the course.

Questions or ideas?

Email idpro@vt.edu and let us know whether you are interested in joining, proposing, sponsoring, referring, or supporting a project.