Beaudoin to Receive BP Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Instruction

Professor Armand Beaudoin has been named the recipient of the 2009 BP Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Instruction. The award recognizes innovative approaches to undergraduate engineering and science education-particularly innovative teaching methods and instructional programs that motivate students to learn and appreciate engineering.

Beaudoin has introduced numerous innovative hands-on projects and practical exercises to MechSE's required mechanical design courses. In 2007, he introduced a hexapod project in which students assembled six-legged robots and then programmed them to kick a soccer ball. Students gained important hands-on-on experience with bearings, screws, gears, shafts and other mechanical systems, and were further motivated by a contest to determine whose robot could kick the ball the farthest.