  The modern engineering landscape increasingly requires a range of skills to
successfully integrate complex systems. Project-based learning is used to help
students build professional skills. However, it is typically applied to small
teams and small efforts. This paper describes an experience in engaging a large
number of students in research projects within a multi-year interdisciplinary
research effort. The projects expose the students to various disciplines in
Computer Science (embedded systems, algorithm design, networking), Electrical
Engineering (circuit design, wireless communications, hardware prototyping),
and Applied Physics (thin-film battery design, solar cell fabrication). While a
student project is usually focused on one discipline area, it requires
interaction with at least two other areas. Over 5 years, 180 semester-long
projects have been completed. The students were a diverse group of high school,
undergraduate, and M.S. Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical
Engineering students. Some of the approaches that were taken to facilitate
student learning are real-world system development constraints, regular
cross-group meetings, and extensive involvement of Ph.D. students in student
mentorship and knowledge transfer. To assess the approaches, a survey was
conducted among the participating students. The results demonstrate the
effectiveness of the approaches. For example, 70% of the students surveyed
indicated that working on their research project improved their ability to
function on multidisciplinary teams more than coursework, internships, or any
other activity.
