scholarly journals OUTCOME COMPARISON FRAMEWORK FOR DESIGN COURSES IN ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Zakani ◽  
Jake Kaupp ◽  
Roderick Turner ◽  
Brian Frank
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Project Description ◽  
Engineering And Technology ◽  
Outcome Comparison ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Technology Programs

Abstract – Inconsistent transfer policies, lack of articulated syllabi, and subsequent differences on the delivery of comparable courses are a few examples of the obstacles that Ontario students face when trying to change programs. This study sought to develop a framework to support transfer between engineering and engineering technology programs in Ontario using explicit and implicit course outcomes to help develop and define new pathways.  Primarily focusing on program expectations in introductory design courses this study compared the content and context of design projects in different institutions and programs across the province. The contextual framework, namely the “Outcome Comparison Framework for Engineering and Technology”, synthesized relevant elements from existing frameworks which can collectively identify the differences in the context of learning in engineering and technology disciplines. This framework looks into disciplinarity, use of tools and design thinking required to successfully finish a design project.  We collected design projects from 5 technology programs and 4 engineering programs across the province and coded them based on the content targeted by the project description and the three dimensions of the framework.  Content analysis for design courses showed an overall low percentage of alignment between the learning outcomes and the project descriptions across the board.  It was found that engineering design courses were more focused on principles of engineering design (problem definition, stakeholder needs, idea generation, decision making) and development of professional characteristics (workplace communication skills, ethics, etc.); but technology design courses, focused on the use of more “hands-on”' skills (building/implementation, troubleshooting, etc.)  

scholarly journals CLIENT-BASED CORNERSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Boudreau ◽  
Hanan Anis
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Engineering Teams ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Second Year

Engineering students at the University of Ottawa are exposed to engineering design in first- and second-year courses. Both courses are open to all engineering students and are multidisciplinary in nature. Students work in teams to deliver a physical prototype by the end of the term. The design projects are all community-based and involve a client from the local community with a specific unmet need. Examples of such clients include local hospitals, accessibility organizations, Ottawa police, Indigenous elders and many more. The client meets with the students a minimum of three times throughout the semester to provide the problem definition and give feedback to the student groups at different stages of the design process. The goal of this paper is to share best practices in selecting and delivering client-based projects targeting first- and second-year students in multidisciplinary engineering teams. The paper discusses the choice of project themes and specific projects. In addition, it presents lessons learned based on student-client interactions, lab manager-client interactions and client satisfaction. Examples are presented from the past three years of delivering such engineering design courses, with testimonials from clients and students.

A Proposed Platform to Simplify the Integration of Electronics Into a Mechanical Engineering Design Course

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett A. Skaloud ◽  
Senthil K. Chandrasegaran ◽  
Karthik Ramani
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Electronic Systems ◽  
Modular Architecture ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Concept Exploration ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Student Test ◽  
Toy Design

The interdisciplinary nature of engineering design and the pervasiveness of electronics in most products has made it necessary for practitioners of “design thinking” to understand electronics and embedded systems, in order to expand their concept exploration space. This poses a significant challenge for mechanical engineers, whose knowledge of electronics is typically limited. A course in mechatronics is available to enhance this knowledge, however it is taught separate from product design and CAD/Toy Design, and students often do not get the opportunity to combine these elements. With an open source microcontroller platform (Arduino™) that allows for easy programming, we see an oppportunity to blend design thinking into a larger domain of engineering. In this paper, we propose a platform that would simplify the incorporation of electronics into a design. The proposed platform will utilize the Arduino™, along with a modular architecture for designing electronic systems, as well as modular program segments for controlling these systems which can be easily customized to meet student requirements. This will enable students in a toy design course to integrate electro-mechanical systems into their designs, while at the same time providing useful electronic knowledge which can be used in their future careers. The toy design projects utilize a Problem-Based Learning [1, 2] approach that will allow students to familiarize themselves with the synthesis and programming of these systems. We describe two student test teams that were introduced to this electronic integration in an existing toy design course, and we use our observations to inform the design of the proposed platform.

Idea generation with Technology Semantic Network

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Serhad Sarica ◽  
Binyang Song ◽  
Jianxi Luo ◽  
Kristin L. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Semantic Network ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Semantic Distance ◽  
The Core ◽  
Design Idea ◽  
Design Ideas ◽  
Design Ideation

Abstract There are growing efforts to mine public and common-sense semantic network databases for engineering design ideation stimuli. However, there is still a lack of design ideation aids based on semantic network databases that are specialized in engineering or technology-based knowledge. In this study, we present a new methodology of using the Technology Semantic Network (TechNet) to stimulate idea generation in engineering design. The core of the methodology is to guide the inference of new technical concepts in the white space surrounding a focal design domain according to their semantic distance in the large TechNet, for potential syntheses into new design ideas. We demonstrate the effectiveness in general, and use strategies and ideation outcome implications of the methodology via a case study of flying car design idea generation.

Neue Geschäftsmodelle in der Life Science Industrie durch einen ganzheitlichen Innovationsprozess

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
Ouelid Ouyeder ◽  
Julia Hitzbleck ◽  
Henning Trill
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Life Science ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
New Business ◽  
End To End ◽  
Lean Startup

Abstract The aim of this paper is to introduce an end-to-end development process for non-biomedical innovation and new business models of a Life Science company that integrates different methods such as Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Agility and others within one framework. Since 2016 this innovation process is an essential part of the internal Employee Innovation program and proves its applicability in a real-life setting. Projects teams develop and implement their new digital business models successfully by taking the introduced innovation process as guideline. This process enables the Life Science organization to run two global entrepreneurship programs (Catalyst Fund and Catalyst Box) that foster customer focus with fast and evidence-based experimentation. The article encompasses a real-life case study out of the Catalyst Fund program about the Farm Advisory Team from India. By using this example each phase of the innovation process is described schematically. Idea generation is easy-to-apply, but the implementation of ideas is one of the biggest challenges in larger corporations. The proposed end-to-end innovation process connects the dots of different innovation methods and provides guidance to company decision makers and project teams in order to structure their business model innovation activities/strategy and discussions. Zusammenfassung Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, einen durchgängigen Innovationsprozess für nicht-biomedizinische Lösungen und Geschäftsmodelle eines Life-Science-Unternehmens vorzustellen, der verschiedene Methoden wie Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Agilität und andere innerhalb eines Gestaltungsrahmens integriert. Seit 2016 ist der Innovationsprozess ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des internen Employee Innovation Programms und beweist seine Anwendbarkeit in einem realen Umfeld. Projektteams entwickeln und implementieren ihre neuen digitalen Geschäftsmodelle erfolgreich, indem sie den vorgestellten Innovationsprozess als Leitfaden nutzen. Dieser Prozess ermöglicht es dem Life-Science-Unternehmen, zwei globale Entrepreneurship-Programme (Catalyst Fund und Catalyst Box) durchzuführen, die den Kundenfokus mit schnellen und evidenzbasierten Experimenten fördern. Der Artikel umfasst eine reale Fallstudie aus dem Catalyst Fund Programm über das Farm Advisory Team aus Indien. Anhand dieses Beispiels wird jede Phase des Innovationsprozesses schematisch beschrieben. Die Ideengenerierung ist leicht anwendbar, aber die Umsetzung von Ideen ist eine der größten Herausforderungen in größeren Unternehmen. Der vorgeschlagene End-to-End-Innovationsprozess integriert die verschiedenen Innovationsmethoden und bietet Entscheidungsträgern und Projektteams in Unternehmen eine Anleitung, um ihre Aktivitäten bzw. Strategie und Diskussionen zur Geschäftsmodellinnovation zu strukturieren.

A Novel Method for Providing Global Assessments of Design Concepts Using Single-Word Adjectives and Semantic Similarity

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Gosnell ◽  
Scarlett R. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Semantic Similarity ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Rating Process ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Design Idea ◽  
Gold Standards

Engineering design idea-generation sessions often result in dozens, if not hundreds, of ideas. These ideas must be quickly evaluated and filtered in order to select a few candidate concepts to move forward in the design process. While creativity is often stressed in the conceptual phases of design, it receives little attention in these later phases — particularly during concept selection. This is largely because there are no methods for quickly rating or identifying worthwhile creative concepts during this process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a novel method for evaluating the creativity and feasibility of design concepts and compare this method to gold standards in our field. The SCAT method employed in this paper uses word selections and semantic similarity to quickly and effectively evaluate candidate concepts for their creativity and feasibility. This method requires little knowledge of the rating process by the evaluator. We tested this method with 10 engineering designers and three different design tasks. Our results revealed that SCAT ratings can be used as a proxy for measuring design concepts but there are modifications that could enhance its utility. This work contributes to our understanding of how to evaluate creativity after idea generation and provides a framework for further research in this field.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Problem Formulation and Ideation Skills Learned Throughout an Engineering Design Course

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Dinar ◽  
Yong-Seok Park ◽  
Jami J. Shah
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Engineering Product ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Final Project ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Long Course

Conventional syllabi of engineering design courses either do not pay enough attention to conceptual design skills, or they lack an objective assessment of those skills to show students’ progress. During a semester-long course of advanced engineering product design, we assigned three major design projects to twenty five students. For each project we asked them to formulate the problems in the Problem Formulator web-based testbed. In addition, we collected sketches for all three design problems, feasibility analyses for the last two, and a working prototype for the final project. We report the students’ problem formulation and ideation in terms of a set of nine problem formulation characteristics and ASU’s ideation effectiveness metrics respectively. We discuss the limitations that the choice of the design problems caused, and how the progress of a class of students during a semester-long design course resulted in a convergence in sets of metrics that we have defined to characterize problem formulation and ideation. We also review the results of students of a similar course which we reported last year in order to find common trends.

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