MAKE FOR EDU - Requirements and evaluation criterias

Project related criteria’s

• (mandatory) An EPFL Professor taking in charge the project (see roles and responsability for more information)
• (mandatory) A coordinator (EPFL employee ideally under the responsility of the Professor in charge)
• The project feasibility: long term objectives are challenging but realistic and in line with EPFL pedagogical objectives and scientific disciplines. Interdisciplinary projects are aiming to last at least 3 years.
• The prototype to build is challenging and requiring multiple backgrounds but it is still realistic with the existing EPFL resources and infrastructures
• The budget (including sponsors) is realistic for the objectives set
• Risks (financial, accident, EPFL image, etc.) shall be identified and mitigated properly, in particular if activities outside of the EPFL campus are planned.

Pedagogical criteria’s

• Learning by doing: the project should reinforce theoretical learning seen in courses through practical implementation.
• Open ended: the project should offer the possibility for students to develop their creativity and to look for many different potential solutions
• Interdisciplinarity: favoring interdisciplinarity by allowing students from different backgrounds to contribute to the project. The prototype(s) to be produced must be complex enough to push students to make compromises between disciplines.
• Transversal skills: the project must allow transversal skills development (group/human management, project management, knowledge management etc..).
• Sustainability: MAKE for EDU projects are not expecting to tackle a specific sustainable issue but they are required to raise awareness about sustainability in the technological field related to the project. For instance, participants of the EPFL Racing team project must be aware of the impact of the car industry.

A given project can be very strong regarding a given criteria and less developed in another. For instance, a given project could be strongly focusing on sustainability but not as interdisciplinary as other projects. None of these criteria are eliminatory (except the very first one) and this list aims at providing the project with a direction/goal, but it is not expected to excel in every criterion. Time management of students is also to consider as the workload on the side of classical courses is very high in MAKE projects.

The strategic and operational committees will evaluate the global picture of every project to make their decisions.