Abstract
In this paper, we first offer a brief overview of the literature on recent efforts in engineering design education, followed by a discussion of the challenges involved with teaching engineering design at an early stage in the curriculum. We then propose an approach utilizing a multi-track teaching style that allows for concurrent teaching of engineering design, analysis and manufacturing. We provide details of how a traditional sophomore-level introductory design course at Kettering University (formerly GMI Engineering & Management Institute) has been modified over the past five years to face pedagogical challenges and accommodate our ideas on the proposed teaching style. The evolution of the ideas, the philosophy behind them and the effects of their implementation on the course are also discussed. Finally, we address teaching quality control, time and budgetary issues.