ENGR 1420

I loved this class so much. Meeting the other Rodmans and working on an engineering project taught me so much about the engineering process and how to work as a team. Prof. Elzey is awesome, he responds to emails in a timely manner and is really enthusiastic about engineering. I'm sad he's retiring tho :(
In this course, we got to explore a problem we could solve with engineering, research previous solutions, brainstorm ways to improve those solutions, and prototype a solution of our own. The things we were expected to turn in were Phase I, II, III, and IV reports which corresponded to the different phases of the engineering process. Elzey also had us do random presentation check-ins to keep track of our progress and where we were going with our projects.
Usually, group dynamics isn't a huge problem, since everyone in the class is pretty motivated, but definitely make sure to stay on track of deadlines. Our group met pretty much every week, sometimes twice or three times to assign roles and delegate things. Loved this course a lot though!

Elzey has been through a lot and has rich experiences to endow to his students. Consider his advice carefully, because he's mentored many students. This is also the last chance for you to be with the other Rodmans so value it - you will miss them! Also, pick a project and a group you will genuinely enjoy working with. It's a great opportunity to stretch your wings as an engineer and work on a cool project.

When choosing one's project, or problem to be solved, at the beginning of the semester, be sure to think carefully about how much time you'll likely want to spend on it (read: less than you think you will). Be sure to communicate with Elzey on anything on the projects that seems unclear and always document your process more than you think is necessary.
Overall a decent experience that helps prepare one for design-oriented engineering.

This is the required first year Rodman engineering course. Professor Elzey definitely lives up to the hype. He is extremely insightful and does his best to make the class the best experience for his students. The class is composed of several projects, which helped introduce the engineering design methodologies. While some of the projects caused a little bit of stress due to group procrastination, they ended up being very good learning experiences. Prof. Elzey is a big fan of interdisciplinary learning as well as studying abroad and we definitely learned a lot about all the great opportunities that exist at UVA in those realms. Overall definitely worthwhile!

This class was very free-form but presented a great opportunity to work with classmates on a unified project for a semester. The class could have used more structure but was brilliant regardless

Professor Elzey leaves this class intentionally very open-ended to allow everyone to pursue their interests in the projects. This class requires good time management and independence and an ability to chose a good group. Given that there are only a few deliverable and little structure it is easy to get caught in the cycle of doing everything last minute, which can become very frustrating, so you have to do the work. To be fair though, that is exactly like an independent capstone project and 4rth year thesis. As always, Elzey is very inspiring and enthusiastic about the projects.

While I liked the idea of this class, its execution wasn't the greatest. Professor Elzey is well-spoken (inspiring even), is very accommodating, and encourages everyone to do well in this class. The class is fun, at times, and in many ways good because it allows one to explore their interests, whatever they may be. You might do your project on something relevant to mechanical engineering, computer science, or even something less technical like education (seriously). Having said that, this class has several shortcomings.

While in the first semester, there were several projects given to students with (intentionally) wide open prompts, in the second semester the single design project is similarly open for students to do whatever they want. This is ostensibly a great idea. However, the lack of structure (through more frequent deliverables or other means) means that everybody often crams their projects right before big deadlines and that assignments are not well-defined in terms of what Elzey actually wants. Furthermore, many of the classes are workshops for groups to meet, which are sometimes used effectively, but often not.

Anyway, if you want to succeed in this class, be sure to pick a good group at the beginning. We liked to joke that Elzey has a large hat that he picks names out of to determine grades, but really, if you have slackers in your group, you better have a big backpack or you're going to have a bad time.

This class is the second part of Synthesis Design, and is a continuation of ENGR 1410. Professor Elzey is by far the best professor I've had at UVA, and he really encourages students to succeed as much as they're willing to. This (along with ENGR 1410) will probably be the best classes you take during your time at UVA.

Structured very much like ENGR1410, in that it's heavily based on group work and projects. Much higher degree of autonomy than in ENGR1410 though; he does less teaching and guiding, and leaves you to utiize your acquired skills to set your own pace and work through assignments. Having good teammates for group projects is key to doing well in this class. The few discussions he has in class are worthwhile, and Elzey brings in professors from various engineering departments to talk to the class.

The professor is very passionate but he doesn't always lay down his expectations and grading can sometimes seem arbitrary. However, you learn a lot from the class and it is an extremely valuable course for your future career.

Passionate guy, but on some days not very good at leading class. Can be very innovative with his project ideas. Projects can be fun depending on your group. Class is interesting sometimes.

Elzey is a great person especially if you go talk to him outside of class. He really cares about his students. the only problem i had with the class was thta sometimes the assignments weren't very clear.

elzey is so passionatre about engineering that you can't help but get excited yourself. It's a really great class!