Enabling Collaborative Engineering With Computer Tools

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen L. Kitto ◽  
Eric K. McKell
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Computer Integrated Manufacturing ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Collaborative Engineering ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
Engineering Approach ◽  
Advisory Boards ◽  
Engineering Design Graphics ◽  
Advanced Computer

Abstract The Engineering Technology Department at Western Washington University has been using the integration of advanced Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools to enable a redesign of the curriculum that uses a collaborative engineering approach similar to the environment used within our industrial counterparts. In today’s competitive global marketplace, those industrial organizations must produce higher quality, easier to manufacture and maintain parts in shorter periods of time. Products are most often created in concurrent engineering or collaborative business environments where rapid sharing of information is the very essence of modern engineering. In addition, the widespread use and availability of the Internet has changed the nature of engineering data management and exchange. Therefore, CAE tools must enable engineers, analysts, technologists and designers to do their jobs more efficiently in a world where time to market is ever shortening. The best CAE tools increase productivity, because they are “smarter” tools. Only when the students are well versed in the multi-faceted collaborative engineering atmosphere and the accompanying modern CAE tools within the curriculum are they truly ready to become immediately productive in the workplace after graduation. This paper first describes the collaborative engineering approach used in the curriculum within the Engineering Technology Department during the past two years. It then describes the use of CAE tools used in the collaborative engineering approach in departmental projects. Next, it details the classes that have been specifically enabled by the use CAE tools including Engineering Design Graphics I, Engineering Design Graphics II, Numerical Control Operations, Advanced Computer Numerical Control (CNC), Tool Design, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (which includes rapid prototyping and finite element analysis). The final section of the paper outlines future plans for enhancing the curriculum further in both the integration of computer tools and the continued development of continuing cross-disciplinary projects based on careful outcomes assessment and feedback from industrial advisory boards and professional societies.

Integrating Microcomputer Applications Into Engineering Technology Programs

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen L. Kitto
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Concurrent Engineering ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Rapid Rate ◽  
Senior Year ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
Microcomputer Applications ◽  
Technology Programs

Abstract Engineering students graduating today face a fast-paced, competitive marketplace where the push to reduce cycle times for product time-to-market, to reduce part count, part cost and assembly time and improve quality and reliability seems to increase almost daily. New Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools to help the engineering, design and manufacturing team accomplish these goals also seem to be introduced at a phenomenal rate. Considering the facts that CAE technology is advancing at such a rapid rate and that the global marketplace pressures are also expanding at a rapid rate, engineering educators today face the challenges of preparing their students for that global marketplace, integrating the new CAE tools and concurrent engineering into the curriculum and maintaining the integrity of the basic engineering and engineering technology programs. This paper describes the efforts in the Department of Engineering Technology at Western Washington University to integrate design, concurrent engineering and microcomputer applications into the manufacturing and plastics engineering technology programs. In their freshman year, students complete two courses in engineering graphics where solid modeling, traditional Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CAD), and sketching have largely replaced manual drafting courses In their sophomore year, all students are required to complete a microcomputer based course in CAE tools In that course, students learn basic tools such as operating systems (DOS®, Windows®, and UNIX®), spreadsheet programs (Excel®), symbolic equation solvers (Mathcad®) and technical document production (Word®) Other sophomore courses, such as Materials Science, Statics and Strength of Materials, require students to use those tools for homework and projects. In the junior year, students are introduced to applied finite element analysis (FEA) in machine design and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining in their CNC course In the senior year, students complete projects with all these tools and use more advanced FEA C-Mold®, a program to model injection molding processes, is also introduced and used in the senior year Students complete concurrent engineering design projects in the sophomore through senior year All the CAE tools at Western are microcomputer based (“486” based).

Effective Use of Industrial Advisory Boards

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-238
Author(s):  
Walter W. Buchanan ◽  
Willard D. Bostwick
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Advisory Boards ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
The Us ◽  
Effective Use

The Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the US Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) stipulates that each accredited programme must have an industrial advisory committee composed of industrial representatives. However, how do we ensure that these committees contribute significantly to the growth and development of engineering technology programmes as a means of ensuring technical currency of the programme and the maintenance of close liaison with the employing industries?

scholarly journals Visualization in Collaborative Engineering Design

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Jones ◽  
Beth A. Brucker ◽  
Van J. Woods ◽  
Blessing F. Adeoye
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Collaborative Engineering

scholarly journals Preparing Students for a Collaborative Engineering Design Work Environment: A Study of Practicing Engineers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tehya Stockman ◽  
Claire Kincaid ◽  
Thomas Heale ◽  
Steven Meyer ◽  
Alexandra Strong
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Collaborative Engineering

AGENTS for cooperating expert systems in concurrent engineering design

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Q. Huang ◽  
John A. Brandon
Keyword(s):  
Expert Systems ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Concurrent Engineering ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Computer Tools ◽  
System A ◽  
And Control ◽  
Domain Independent

A main theme of concurrent engineering is the effective communication between relevant disciplines. Any computer tools for concurrent engineering must provide sufficient constructs and strategies for this purpose. This paper describes the AGENTS system, a domain-independent general-purpose Object-Oriented Prolog language for cooperating expert systems in concurrent engineering design. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating the use of the AGENTS constructs for distributed knowledge representation and the cooperation strategies for communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, and control. A simple case study is presented to illustrate the balance between simplicity and flexibility.

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