Community-Engaged Course Award Supports “Mechatronic Solutions for Community Impact” for Fall 2026

Dr. Osman Sayginer has received a Community-Engaged Course Award from Temple University’s President’s Office of Community Impact & Civic Engagement, providing $2,500 in support for the development and delivery of a new special topics undergraduate course, Mechatronic Solutions for Community Impact, planned for Fall 2026.

The course is designed to connect engineering education with community priorities in North Philadelphia. Undergraduate student teams will apply engineering design, fabrication, and systems thinking to advance projects from problem scoping and stakeholder engagement to prototyping, testing, and iteration, with an emphasis on producing functional, testable outcomes within a single academic semester.

A central element of the course is a community-engaged learning model that includes collaboration with community-based organizations as advisory partners, as well as age-appropriate co-design and learning activities with local K12 students. The course also emphasizes responsible and ethical use of AI as a support tool for research, ideation, and documentation, while reinforcing engineering judgment, accountability, and hands-on validation.

The semester will conclude with a public showcase featuring prototype demonstrations and dialogue with community partners, to K12 collaborators, and members of the university community.