Post by Emily Monroe, P.E.

When you think of engineering standards, do you see a tool for engineering innovation? 💡= ⛷️+ 📈 I just wrapped a pilot of this mindset in the Dartmouth Summer Scholars Engineering Design and Prototyping for Entrepreneurship course, and a project by a team of high school skiers perfectly demonstrated why this approach works. The students set out to design a slap-bracelet-style device to secure a phone to a ski lift safety bar. Instead of treating standards as an afterthought, they used them as foundational design tools right from day one. Here is how they integrated standards into their process: 🚡ANSI B77.1: Used to understand the strict environment and safety requirements governing passenger ropeways and chairlifts. 🥶ASTM D746: Used to evaluate how different materials perform in freezing, low-temperature conditions. 🧲📲Testing & Consumer Needs: They analyzed standardized methods for impact, friction, wear, and flexural performance, while also factoring in consumer requirements like MagSafe compatibility. The experience was so rewarding and the student survey feedback reflects this was meaningful to them as well. They shared how standards directly helped them define project requirements, navigate tough design trade-offs, and confidently justify their final decisions. Huge thanks to Marla Dowell for her support and encouragement with this pilot. I’m really looking forward to collaborating with Marla to build on this success and develop this framework into Dartmouth's emerging standards-focused capstone curriculum! I’m a big believer that standards support safety, interoperability, quality, trust, and responsible innovation. When taught in a project-based and hands-on context, standards function as a form of human-centered design—allowing the next generation of engineers to build on accumulated knowledge and create safer, more reliable products. #EngineeringEducation #DartmouthEngineering #STEM #HumanCenteredDesign #Innovation #EngineeringStandards #FutureEngineers

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