Rensselaer School of Engineering is a leader is experiential learning, where students are exposed to engineering design early in their curriculum. Excellent laboratories equipped with modern tools, maker/thinker/inventor spaces, and integrated design curricula provide broad experiential learning opportunities for students. Some examples are highlighted below.

The Design Lab
The O.T. Swanson Multidisciplinary Design Laboratory or the MDL is truly the home of ‘engineering design’ at Rensselaer, where many hundreds of engineering seniors work in teams each year to address some of the world major problems ranging from alternative energy and sustainability, smart grid, and healthcare, to advanced materials. The MDL educates students many engineering disciplines (biomedical, electrical and computer systems, electric power, industrial, materials, mechanical, and aeronautical) on their multidisciplinary capstone design projects, which are typically funded by industry. In addition to technical aspects of engineering design, students learn about teamwork as well as written and oral communication skills.