Mission Statement ProCEED seeks to enhance the learning experience of university engineering students through design projects by linking the community and the students, enabling the students to apply their engineering knowledge to real world problems for the benefit of the community.

The ProCEED Program: An innovative new program, ProCEED (Program for Community Engagement in Engineering Design), began in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. ProCEED is a student organized program that brings together community based projects with engineering students through their design courses. Groups of 3 to 5 engineering students work closely with project sponsors and the instructors each semester (for approximately 4 months) on individual projects and take them from concept to physical models (prototypes). As a result, community service organizations are provided with alternatives for solving important technical problems. Why ProCEED: Community service organizations increasingly rely on technology to improve the services they provide and they often need help from people with strong technical backgrounds. At the same time, undergraduate engineering students are faced with the need to practice and enrich their technical skills during their education.

Our mechanical engineering students can provide technical solutions for many diverse segments of the community including, for example: Physically challenged or elderly: assistive devices, increased access to public facilities, barrier-free homes (for example, wheelchair lift for playground equipment) Under-resourced: engineering and manufacturing assistance for minority-owned businesses (for example, automated manufacturing equipment for empowerment zone companies) Environment: waste reduction and recycling methods (for example, machine to sort recycled waste products)