Non-Traditional Integration of Creative Writing in Undergraduate Engineering Courses Joshua D. Summers, Assistant Professor Judy Wood, Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering Clemson University Clemson, SC 29634-0921 joshua.summers@ces.clemson.edu judy.wood@ces.clemson.edu Abstract This paper offers two innovative teaching examples of how educators in Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University have integrated elements of creative writing into their courses. Students in a sophomore-level Statics course were required to write a poem about a specific concept, at key times during the course. This forced the students to think about the specific concept from a different perspective and at a greater depth. The second example is the design and fabrication of a pop-up book for children, which was assigned to teams of students in a sophomore-level Fundamentals of Mechanical Systems course. The pop-up book required the design synthesis and analysis of three four bar linkages to actively illustrate a story of the student's choosing. These examples are provided as an illustration of how innovative approaches to teach engineering may be coupled with creative writing, giving engineering students the opportunity to exercise their “creative muscles” in uncommon situations. Introduction Engineering curriculum are typically focused on teaching students the mathematical and quantitative skills required to perform necessary analyses. In studying a typical mechanical engineering curriculum, one is immediately struck by the quantity of analysis that is embedded, from Statics courses where analyze structures and loads that are provided, to Thermodynamics where students analyze the performance for a refrigeration cycle. The typical engineering assignment is very methodical, systematic, analytical with little synthesis or “right brain” challenge to the students. Many students develop a special set of problem-solving skills: • Step 1: Initiation o Take all of the numbers given in the problem, o Enter them in a calculator, o Compare the answer from the calculator with that in the back of the book. • Step 2: Evaluation o If the value in the back of the book is not the same as that in the calculator, o Then select a different permutation of those same numbers in the calculator. o Return to Step 1 • Step 3: Augmentation o After trying a half-dozen different permutations of the numbers given in the problem without success, try multiplying by “g,” the coefficient of gravity. o If the value 32.2 doesn’t work,