Christmas Lights Student Project

The Christmas Lights Student Project was carried out during the fall 2010. It was done by the first year electrical engineering students. The target of the project was to learn about the electrical circuit design. In Finland, Christmas time is the darkest time of the year. The sun is barely seen in the northern parts of the country. During this time of the year, people like to decorate their homes with Christmas lights. These bright coloured, beautiful decorations bring some light to the darkness and promote the ‘Christmas feeling’.

At Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences (KTUAS) the first year electrical engineering students began their path towards Christmas in September 2010 by starting the Christmas Lights Student Project. This CDIO project was designed to offer the students practical learning by doing experiences in the field of electrical circuit design, programmable logic controllers and team (project) work. This paper together with the poster represents the learning objectives of the project, the project work itself and the results which were also introduced at the school event in December 2010.

The Christmas Lights Student Project was managed by three teachers. Ten student teams were working on the project. Each student team had four members and they were allowed to use their imagination and design their very own view on Christmas Lights. For the first year electrical engineering students, it is important that electricity, electrical circuits, electrical components and the difficulties or challenges related to real world design become visible and concrete. The theory lessons on the electrical circuits are more easily forgotten than the practical construction work. It was also seen in this project that the students really enjoyed the design of their Christmas Lights. The project also affected the team spirit positively and the learning outcomes were good.

So, this paper (and poster) represents the Christmas Lights Student Project and gives some ideas on how a successful student project can be carried out. It also introduces the institution of Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences and its participation in the international CDIO conference for the first time. The KTUAS has planned to join the CDIO initiative during the year 2011. Hopefully this paper and the poster presentation together with a strong participation in the conference will offer the school a good CDIO starting point.