An Affordable Machining Laboratory Approach for Undergraduate Engineers

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishnu Vardhan Chandrasekaran ◽  
Lewis N. Payton ◽  
Chase Wortman ◽  
Wesley Hunko
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Production System ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Machine Shop ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Graduate Research ◽  
Simple Machines ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Research Students ◽  
The University

Designers in any industry need to understand the processes involved in making a part beforehand in order to communicate with technicians from trade schools and industry. Even a simple engineering drawing can often not be created due to process limitations (e.g., a perfectly drawn internal 90 degree angle in a CAD drawing does not occur in nature OR in a machine shop). This paper describes an affordable way to teach manufacturing to undergraduate engineering students and in the process provide them with hands on training in a machine shop environment. The goal here is not to create machinists, but to enable future Engineers to understand and talk with designers/machinists. The theme here is not to spend on expensive super machines but on simple machines as emphasized in the Toyota Production System. Students learn the techniques that let technicians produce perfect parts on imperfect, simple machines. The result for Auburn University has been an affordable laboratory that mutually supports undergraduate students, graduate research students, and the university as a whole.

Effective NEMS Education and Training in an Undergraduate Course

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nael Barakat ◽  
Heidi Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Engineering Level ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Manufacturing Techniques ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Micro Systems

Increasing demand on workforce for nanotechnology implementation has resulted in an exponential increase of demand on educational material and methods to qualify this workforce. However, nanotechnology is a field that integrates many areas of science and engineering requiring a significant amount of background knowledge in both theory and application to build upon. This challenge is significantly magnified when trying to teach nanotechnology concepts and applications at the undergraduate engineering level. A considerable amount of time is needed for an undergraduate engineering student to be able to design and build a useful device applying nanotechnology concepts, within one course time. This paper presents an actual experience in teaching hands-on applications in nanotechnology to undergraduate engineering students through an optimized model, within a normal course time. The model significantly reduces the time needed by undergraduate students to learn the necessary manufacturing techniques and apply them to produce useful products at the micro and nano levels, by ensuring that infrastructure and legwork related to the educational process are partially completed and verified, before the course starts. The model also provides improved outcomes as all its pre-course work is also tested with students working under different arrangements of professors’ supervision. The result is an optimized infrastructure setup for micro and nanotechnology design and manufacturing education, built with students in mind, to be completed within the frame of one semester course. The model was implemented at GVSU-SOE as the core hands-on part of a senior undergraduate course titled (EGR 457 nano/micro systems engineering). Students in the course were able to go through the design and build steps of different MEMS and NEMS products, while learning and utilizing cleanroom equipment and procedures. This was based on infrastructural arrangements by students preceding this class by a semester and working closely with the professors. Assessment was conducted on both sides of the model and results were collected for evaluation and improvement of the model.

scholarly journals Increasing Student Practical Experience with the Hurdle of Large Class Sizes

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Baleshta
Keyword(s):  
Large Class ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
First Year ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Student Surveys ◽  
Machine Shop ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The University

Many students entering Mechanical or Mechatronics Engineering (MME) at the University of Waterloo (UWaterloo) have limited hands-on skills and lack practical technical knowledge. Student surveys cite a desire for increased practical experience within the curriculum.This paper presents an initiative to address this issue. A keychain project was designed to involve all first year MME students in a practical (hands-on) activity that would foster competence with machinery. This objective proved difficult to implement due to large student enrollment, where scheduling, supervision, and resources were all significant challenges. However, as a result of this experience, over 400 engineering students were provided early exposure to the Student Machine Shop, creating a desire and confidence to pursue additional experience.This program is expected to continue at UWaterloo and become a component of a wider engineering clinic initiative. The methodology and key takeaways will be discussed herein.

scholarly journals Development and delivery of a work experience week programme for mechanical engineering

2020 ◽  
pp. 030641902098104
Author(s):  
A Gonzalez-Buelga ◽  
I Renaud-Assemat ◽  
B Selwyn ◽  
J Ross ◽  
I Lazar
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Legal Term ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Engineering Design Problem ◽  
Hands On ◽  
University Of Bristol ◽  
The University

This paper focuses on the development, delivery and preliminary impact analysis of an engineering Work Experience Week (WEW) programme for KS4 students in the School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering (CAME) at the University of Bristol, UK. Key stage 4, is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs in England, age 15–16. The programme aims to promote the engineering profession among secondary school pupils. During the WEW, participants worked as engineering researchers: working in teams, they had to tackle a challenging engineering design problem. The experience included hands-on activities and the use of state-of-the-art rapid prototyping and advanced testing equipment. The students were supervised by a group of team leaders, a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, technical staff, and academics at the School of CAME. The vision of the WEW programme is to transmit the message that everybody can be an engineer, that there are plenty of different routes into engineering that can be taken depending on pupils’ strengths and interests and that there are a vast amount of different engineering careers and challenges to be tackled by the engineers of the future. Feedback from the participants in the scheme has been overwhelmingly positive.

scholarly journals Developing students’ aptitudes through University-Industry collaboration

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Aizpun ◽  
Diego Sandino ◽  
Inaki Merideno
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Engineering Knowledge ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Student Community ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Industry Collaboration ◽  
The University ◽  
University Industry

<p>In addition to the engineering knowledge base that has been traditionally taught, today’s undergraduate engineering students need to be given the opportunity to practice a set of skills that will be demanded to them by future employers, namely: creativity, teamwork, problem solving, leadership and the ability to generate innovative ideas. In order to achieve this and educate engineers with both in-depth technical knowledge and professional skills, universities must carry out their own innovating and find suitable approaches that serve their students. This article presents a novel approach that involves university-industry collaboration. It is based on creating a student community for a particular company, allowing students to deal with real industry projects and apply what they are learning in the classroom. A sample project for the German sports brand adidas is presented, along with the project results and evaluation by students and teachers. The university-industry collaborative approach is shown to be beneficial for both students and industry.</p>

scholarly journals Bridging the Gap: Understanding the Differing Research Expectations of First-Year Students and Professor

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meg Raven
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Instruction Strategies ◽  
Research Instruction ◽  
The University

Objective: This study sought to better understand the research expectations of first-year students upon beginning university study, and how these expectations differed from those of their professors. Most academic librarians observe that the research expectations of these two groups differ considerably and being able to articulate where these differences are greatest may help us provided more focused instruction, and allow us to work more effectively with professors and student support services. Methods: 317 first-year undergraduate students and 75 professors at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, NS were surveyed to determine what they each expected of first-year student research. Students were surveyed on the first day of term so as to best understand their research expectations as they transitioned from high school to university. Results: The gulf between student and professor research expectations was found to be considerable, especially in areas such as time required for reading and research, and the resources necessary to do research. While students rated their preparedness for university as high, they also had high expectations related to their ability to use non-academic sources. Not unexpectedly, the majority of professors believed that students are not prepared to do university-level research, they do not take enough responsibility for their own learning, they should use more academic research sources, and read twice as much as students believe they should. Conclusions: By better understanding differing research expectations, students can be guided very early in their studies about appropriate academic research practices, and librarians and professors can provide students with improved research instruction. Strategies for working with students, professors and the university community are discussed.

Thoughts and Highlights Involving an Urban Museum Education Partnership and a University

2021 ◽  
pp. 186-204
Author(s):  
Bryna Bobick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Museum Education ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
Urban Art ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Museum Professionals ◽  
University Museum ◽  
The University

This chapter examines the partnership between an urban art museum and a university. It involves museum educators, art education faculty, and undergraduate students. It specifically explores the development of hands-on museum activities for elementary students created by the university participants. The chapter is written from a higher education perspective. It provides a description of all facets of the partnership from its planning to the completion of the museum activities. The partnership provided the university students authentic museum experiences and ways to make professional connections with museum professionals. Recommendations for those who wish to develop university/museum partnerships are shared.

Incorporation of Manufacturing Process Design Into the Senior Capstone Design Course

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas V. Gallagher ◽  
Ronald A. L. Rorrer
Keyword(s):  
Process Design ◽  
Manufacturing Process ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Cnc Machining ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Solid Models ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
The University ◽  
Capstone Design

At the University Colorado Denver, a manufacturing process design course was specifically created to raise the level of the as constructed senior design projects in the department. The manufacturing process design course creates a feed forward loop into the senior design course, while the senior design course generates a feedback loop into the process design course. Every student and student project has the opportunity to utilize CNC mills and lathes where appropriate. Specific emphasis is placed upon the interfaces from solid models to CAM models and subsequently the interface from CAM models to the machine tool. Often the construction of many senior design projects approaches the level of blacksmithing due to time constraints and lack of fabrication background. Obviously, most engineering students have neither the time nor the ability to become expert fabricators. However, the wide incorporation of CNC machining in the program allows, an opportunity to not only raise the quality of their prototypes, but also to immerse in the hands on experience of living with the ramifications of their own design decisions in manufacturing. Additionally, some of the art of fabrication is turned into the science of fabrication. The focus of this paper will be primarily on examining the effect of formal incorporation of the manufacturing process in the capstone design course.

Problem Solving Techniques Taught Through Validation of an Instantaneous Rigid Force Model

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Mindek ◽  
Joseph M. Guerrera
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Cutting Forces ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Force Model ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Laboratory Courses ◽  
Milling Operations ◽  
Cutting Model

Educating engineering students in the appropriate methods for analyzing and problem solving fundamental manufacturing processes is a challenge in undergraduate engineering education, given the increasingly limited room in the curriculum as well as the limited time and resources. Although junior and senior level laboratory courses have traditionally been used as a pedagogical platform for conveying this type of knowledge to undergraduate students, the broad range of manufacturing topics that can be covered along with the limited time within a laboratory course structure has sometimes limited the effectiveness of this approach. At the same time, some undergraduate students require a much deeper knowledge of certain manufacturing topics, practices or research techniques, especially those who may already be working in a manufacturing environment as part of a summer internship or part-time employment. The current work shows how modeling, actual machining tests and problem solving techniques were recently used to analyze a manufacturing process within a senior design project course. Specifically, an Instantaneous Rigid Force Model, originally put forward by Tlusty (1,2) was validated and used to assess cutting forces and the ability to detect tool defects during milling operations. Results from the tests showed that the model accurately predicts cutting forces during milling, but have some variation due to cutter vibration and deflection, which were not considered in the model. It was also confirmed that a defect as small as 0.050 inches by 0.025 inches was consistently detectable at multiple test conditions for a 0.5-inch diameter, 4-flute helical end mill. Based on the results, it is suggested that a force cutting model that includes the effect of cutter vibration be used in future work. The results presented demonstrate a level of knowledge in milling operations analysis beyond what can typically be taught in most undergraduate engineering laboratory courses.

Introducing “Advanced” Tuned Vibration Absorbers in an Undergraduate Vibrations Course

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Hoi Koo ◽  
Fernando Goncalves ◽  
Hong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Smart Materials ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Vibration Absorbers ◽  
Active Materials ◽  
New Class ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Tuned Vibration Absorbers ◽  
Real World Problems

The primary objective of this paper is to bridge the theory of tuned vibration absorbers (TVA) with the practice of implementing TVAs in systems. Often, the practice of implementing TVAs in systems is a far departure from the theory expressed in many textbooks. These departures are often required in practice to account for the less than ideal conditions that the TVAs will be operating under. Many retrofitted TVAs use “smart” or active materials along with various control techniques to improve the performance of the traditional TVA proposed in textbooks. The intent of the current paper is to demonstrate several of these modern methods of implementing retrofitted TVAs to undergraduate students. The first author introduced the methods in a junior level vibrations course, and is developing a laboratory experiment. Teaching these advanced TVAs to undergraduate engineering students will help them understand how theories learned in class are used in real world problems, and motivate them to explore new fields of research. After introducing a “textbook” vibration absorber theory, this paper describes principles and operations of a new class of vibration absorbers. In reviewing conventional TVAs, students are introduced to many of the engineering challenges encountered in the implementation of TVAs. One such challenge is inevitable off-tuning caused by system parameter changes with time. After identifying many of the challenges associated with the implementation of TVAs, the students are introduced to many modern solutions to these problems. Many of these solutions involve the use of smart materials, such as piezoceramics, magnetorheological fluids, magnetorheological elastomers, shape memory alloys, etc. Through this experience, students are introduced to many smart materials and have the opportunity to see how these smart materials can provide solutions to many engineering challenges and improve existing technologies.

A Canadian University “Understanding Foods” Course Improves Confidence in Food Skills and Food Safety Knowledge

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 170-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Bertrand ◽  
Alison Crerar ◽  
Janis Randall Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Grocery Shopping ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The University ◽  
Safety Knowledge ◽  
The Impact

The impact of a hands-on foods course on undergraduate students’ food skills was examined at the University of Guelph. For a convenience sample, first- and second-year students (n = 47, 87% female) registered in the “Understanding Foods” course were recruited to participate in a survey administered on Qualtrics at the beginning of the semester and again at the end of the semester. Participants were asked questions related to demographics and food habits; additional questions on food skills, in Likert-scale format, included confidence in food preparation, food safety knowledge, and grocery shopping habits. Subscales were combined for an overall Food Skills Questions (FSQ) score and differences were determined by paired t tests. Overall, significant (P < 0.05) improvements were observed related to students’ confidence and food safety knowledge scores as well as the overall FSQ score. Students, however, rated their personal eating habits more poorly (P < 0.05) at the end of the semester. As a lack of food skills is often considered a barrier for healthy eating among students, these results signify the importance of a hands-on introductory cooking course at the undergraduate level.

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