The goal of the proposed effort is to develop and implement a course in "Information Engineering Across the Professions" which will be accessible to and relevant for students from virtually any discipline. This proposal addresses a need that has arisen from the impact that information technology is making on all professions, technical and non-technical. This course will provide students with knowledge regarding such concepts as the nature of information, bandwidth, types of transmission and storage media, and the fundamental principles governing information technology. Through the use of laboratory project-based "personality modules" customized to address different student disciplinary interests and backgrounds (e.g., mechanical engineering, the sciences, the arts, management), the course will expose students to professional applications of these technologies. Given the range of topics, and the innovative means of course delivery, it is reasonable to expect that the proposed course will prove attractive to a significant number of students (including women and under-represented groups) who are not typically drawn to engineering. The specific result of this project will be one course, offered twice per academic year. A substantial evaluation plan has been developed. Regarding dissemination, beyond the traditional methods, a broad range of course resources will be available for downloading and customization via the World Wide Web.
