历史 of the 临床项目

五个 decades ago, while watching a homecoming parade, one of Harvey Mudd College’s engineering professors turned to a colleague and said, “Wouldn’t it be great to channel the energy and ingenuity these students use to create a winning float into solving real technical problems?” In a moment of revelry-induced inspiration, the concept of the Harvey Mudd College 临床项目 was born.

Founding faculty members Jack Alford and M. Mack Gilkeson sought to channel HMC student initiative, drive and intelligence into projects of real-world nature. They felt the best way to do this was to give students a “clinical” experience similar to that which medical students receive as part of their training—thus the name “诊所.”

“I gained the idea that engineering was like dancing, you don’t learn it in a darkened lecture hall watching slides; you learn it by getting out on the dance floor and having your toes stepped on.”
– Jack Alford, Emeritus Professor of 工程 and 临床项目 co-founder

2012年，M. Mack Gilkeson and two other HMC faculty members received the nation’s most prestigious engineering education award, the National Academy of 工程’s 伯纳德米. 戈登奖 for Innovation in 工程 and Technology Education.

The 工程 诊所 was established with initial funding from the Ford, U.S.Steel and Sloan foundations. The 数学 诊所 began in 1973 with funding from a National Science Foundation grant. The Computer Science 诊所 began in 1993, the 物理 诊所 in 1996 and the 全球诊所 component of the program began in 2005 with an endowment from the Vickery family.

全球诊所

全球诊所, established in 2005, prepares students for the future challenges of practicing engineering, science and mathematics in a global context. This program supports the activities associated with undertaking several yearlong, industry-sponsored global engineering and science projects in which teams of Harvey Mudd students collaborate with teams of students from international partner schools with particular emphasis on partnerships in Singapore, 中国, 印度, Japan and Israel, with future plans to expand into South America and Europe.

Social Justice 诊所s

In 2018, the college launched a program to support two Social Justice 诊所s each year to provide technical support to community-based organizations working in areas including educational, 环境, economic and social justice.