A meaningful freshman engineering design experience course with an interdisciplinary environmental approach was offered at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Spring term 1997 and was taught by faculty from the Chemical and Civil Engineering Departments. The problem assigned was the Siting and Design of a Manufacturing Facility using Hazardous Materials and the process design was for a plant to manufacture aspirin. The project simulated a contract undertaken by a consulting firm to site and design the plant with the assignment given to entry-level engineers. This approach does not require that the freshman students be well versed in the "traditional design concepts, background, and knowledge" required in the capstone design courses.