Green Home Design Team

WHO ARE WE?
The Green Home Design Team is one of several teams the UCSD TIES organization. This team aims to provide low-cost and environmentally friendly engineering design and analysis for San Diego Habitat for Humanity. With the team’s major emphasis in green building and sustainability, all of the projects for this team will concentrate on a “Go Green” theme. Concurrently, this project provides an opportunity for participating students to gain structural and architectural design experience by working with professionals in respective fields. The students will be required to use engineering economics, team work, leadership, documentation, presentation, and communication skills.

THE TIES PROGRAM
What is TIES? Teams In Engineering Service is an innovative academic program that offers partnerships between engineering students and non-profit organizations in the local community leading them to identify, address and solve engineering problems. TIES is modeled after the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) Program at Purdue University. TIES places students on a team of undergraduate engineering students, working under a facility advisor for a non-profit organization. Upon entering the team the students are assigned roles and places into smaller sub-teams. TIES at UCSD provides undergraduate students with invaluable experience by teaching them theoretical knowledge, technical skills, teamwork, communication, ethical responsibility, and value for professional development. TIES is under the course description ENG 100L and has a 1 hour weekly lecture component and 2 hours of team lab meeting. It is expected to have 3 hours of outside preparation. Grades are based on academic milestones such as design reviews, individual design notebooks, reports, presentations, peer and self evaluations, and feedback from the community client. Students can expect to make a presentation or participate in a design review during 10th week.

The TIES program will provide the community with access to technical knowledge and resources that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. It is an opportunity for local community members to improve their existing services, and to attempt new services and innovative ideas. Finally, it enables local non-profit groups to develop relationships with faculty and to benefit from interaction with UCSD's most valuable resources, its students.