First-year engineering students faced a practical design challenge using LEGO bricks. Their goal: build a toy car appealing to a 6-10 year old child. This meant focusing on user needs – bright colors, fun shapes, and sturdy construction.

Teams had just 45 minutes and random parts, mirroring real engineering constraints. They collaborated quickly, solving problems and making design choices based on the target user. This hands-on activity served as an introduction to user-centered design, teamwork, and managing project limitations effectively. It provided a practical foundation for their future engineering studies.

This activity is very close to my heart, as it was inspired by the lessons and wisdom passed down through my family of educators. My father, a math teacher who wasn’t familiar with engineering, always had a unique way of helping me find clarity, even when his advice seemed unrelated to the problem at hand. His stories, though tangential, sparked new ideas and opened my mind. Unfortunately, he passed away last December after a brave battle with cancer. This activity was designed during that time, with his influence lingering in every idea I came up with.

With the support of my wife, colleagues, and a few wonderful individuals along the way, we created a project that combines key aspects of learning motivation, competition, enjoyment, and engagement. We designed a calculus escape room that integrates real-world applications and problem-solving, all while making learning fun and interactive.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with students rating the experience highly in multiple dimensions of learning.