The Olin Curriculum: Thinking Toward the Future

Mark Somerville, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
David Anderson, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Hillary Berbeco, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
John Bourne, Sloan Consortium; Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Jill Crisman, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Diana Dabby, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Helen Donis-Keller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Stephen Holt, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Sherra E. Kerns, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
David V. Kerns, Jr., Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Robert Martello, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Richard Miller, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Michael Moody, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Gill Pratt, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Joanne C. Pratt, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Christina Shea, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Stephen Schiffman, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Sarah Spence Adams, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Lynn Andrea Stein, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Jonathan Stolk, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Brian D. Storey, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Burt S. Tilley, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Benjamin Vandiver, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Yevgeniya Zastavker, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

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© 2005 IEEE. This article was published in IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 48, Iss. 1, pages 198-205 and may be found here.

Abstract

In 1997, the F. W. Olin Foundation of New York established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, MA, with the mission of creating an engineering school for the 21st century. Over the last five years, the college has transformed from an idea to a functioning entity that admitted its first freshman class in fall 2002. This paper describes the broad outlines of the Olin curriculum with some emphasis on the electrical and computer engineering degree. The curriculum incorporates the best practices from many other institutions as well as new ideas and approaches in an attempt to address the future of engineering education.