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.

scholarly journals SHORT DESIGN PROJECTS FOR AN INTRODUCTORY THERMOFLUIDS ENGINEERING COURSE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Hastie ◽  
Jan Haelssig
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Second Year

The Faculty of Engineering at Dalhousie University offers a common introductory course that covers the basic principles of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics in a unified manner. This introductory course is a mandatory part of the curriculum for all engineering programs offered at Dalhousie. In this course, students are required to perform six laboratory experiments, and since 2012 students have also completed short, four-week design projects.The short design project helps students to acquire more of the graduate attributes defined by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), including design, communication, and team work skills. They also provide students with a well-deserved break from purely theoretical work in lectures and tutorials, and a chance to develop some hands-on abilities.This paper describes the lessons learned from the last three design projects, which were focused on modifications to a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube, design of a pop-pop boat, and design of a double pipe heat exchanger. The primary challenges have been the limited engineering design experience possessed by students in their third semester of studies, the heavy workload that second-year engineering students already have, and the relatively large class size. Even though there are clear challenges related to integrating a design project into a large second-year class, the results seem to indicate that these design projects provide a positive learning experience for the students.

scholarly journals THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS - DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEM: “TAKE TIME TO DEFINE” WITH CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A.C. Flemming ◽  
Clifton R. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Engineering Discipline ◽  
Current State ◽  
Problem Diagnosis

In previous work [1] it was argued that turning attention from the act of problem solving to the act of problem defining has several benefits for engineering students and practitioners alike. Such benefits include developing and refining student’s empathy and critical thinking skills inside the engineering discipline. The practical question then becomes how to teach and practice the process of defining the problem well. The following paper is a literature review of the current state of problem definition within engineering design research and how problem diagnosis can be taught and practiced by engineers. Two significant insights emerge from this review: (1) traditional engineering design literature does not suggest processes for defining problems; and (2) the authors consider "Contextual Inquiry" the most promising tool for problem diagnosis from an Industrial Engineering perspective.

scholarly journals ENGCON: A PRE-CAPSTONE ENGINEERING DESIGN CONVENTION

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Rennick ◽  
Eugene Li
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Internal Support ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Capstone Projects ◽  
The University ◽  
Important Activity ◽  
Capstone Design

The capstone design project is ubiquitous in engineering programs worldwide, and is seen by students as the single most important activity in their undergraduate careers. Staff and faculty at the University of Waterloo identified three issues with the current capstone process: students are unaware of industrial suppliers, they lack multi-disciplinary exposure, and they often struggle to identify "good" needs for their projects. The Engineering IDEAs Clinic, with support from instructors and staff from across Engineering, developed a conference for students to address these issues. EngCon – aimed at students in third/fourth year – brought students together with their peers from other programs, instructors from across the Faculty, and representatives from suppliers (both external industry, and internal support units) with the goal of improving their capstone projects. This paper presents the design and implementation of EngCon in both 2017 and 2018 with lessons learned from offering a large coordinated set of workshops aimed at students as they enter their capstone design projects.  

Thermal Engineering Design Project: A Calorimeter That Measures the Specific Heat of Aluminum

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
R. S. Mullisen
Keyword(s):  
Specific Heat ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
Thermal Capacity ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Aluminum Plates

A thermal engineering design project requiring the design, construction, and operation of a calorimeter that measures the specific heat of aluminum was assigned to a class of third-year mechanical engineering students. Before making the assignment, the author developed his own design, which consisted of two individual calorimeters — each an assembly of 13 aluminum plates with electric resistance heater wires laced between the plates. The exterior surfaces of both calorimeters and the surrounding insulation were identical. However, the interior plates were different — one calorimeter had solid interior plates and the other had perforated interior plates. By initially adjusting the electrical power into each calorimeter the temperature versus time curves for each calorimeter were matched. This curve match allowed cancellation of the unknown heat loss from each calorimeter and cancellation of the unknown heater thermal capacity. The final result was a specific heat for the aluminum alloy that deviated by 4.4% from a published value. A class of third-year mechanical engineering students, working in teams, produced designs using the method of mixtures (aluminum and water) and electrically heated aluminum samples. The 17 student groups plus the author produced 129 data points with a mean specific heat value that deviated by 19.5% from a published value.

scholarly journals USING ACTOR NETWORK THEORY TO EXPLORE SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES IN AN ENGINEERING & SOCIETY COURSE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Irish ◽  
Lisa Romkey
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Engineering Design ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Engineering Program ◽  
Engineering Society ◽  
Second Year

This paper explores the use of Actor-Network Theory as a tool for exploring the complexity ofsustainability issues in a core Engineering and Society course for second-year students in a large,multidisciplinary engineering program. In the course, Actor Network Theory, which is a method for analyzing sociotechnical issues with an emphasis on the concept of power and its distribution, was introduced to the students through a series of learning activities and an assignment, initially encouraging the students to apply the approach to a system within their own life. Subsequently, the approach was used to analyze complex sociotechnical issues, for example, the use of Coal-based energy in Nova Scotia, and the Coastal Gaslink pipeline dispute in the Wet’suwet'enterritory. This paper describes our approach to introducing Actor Network Theory to engineering students, the benefits and limitations of the approach, and the efficacy of the approach for exploring sustainability issues. Other instructors may consider the introduction of ActorNetwork Theory through courses in Engineering & Society and Engineering Design.

scholarly journals Engineering for American Communities: Engaging Engineering Students in Multidisciplinary Altruistic Engineering Design Projects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malinda Zarske ◽  
Lauren Rockenbaugh ◽  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Derek Reamon
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Projects

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.)  

Functional Design Tree for Mechatronic Projects in Mechanical Engineering Design Course

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meltem Korkmazel ◽  
Abdülkadir Erden
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Functional Approach ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Engineering System ◽  
Systematic Design ◽  
Functional Design ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Design Projects

Abstract The functional approach utilizes a ‘Functional Design Tree’, which is a decomposition hierarchy of functions involving sub-functions of an engineering system at various levels of resolution. Use of functional approach in the design of mechatronic systems is investigated in the senior level mechanical engineering design projects. A survey is conducted on the senior mechanical engineering students after an engineering design course. It is attempted to find out whether the students followed the systematic design approach, and to what extent they used the functional design tree. The results of the survey are presented and evaluated in the paper, and some conclusions are derived for possible outcomes of the survey.

Design Projects in a Mechanical Engineering Technology Curriculum

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Alan Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Lawn Mower ◽  
Machine Elements ◽  
Design Projects

Abstract Design oriented “capstone” courses for senior students have enjoyed renewed popularity in recent years. However, incorporating design projects as part of lower level laboratory courses is not as widely practiced. This paper discusses the authors’ experience using design projects in four freshman/sophomore level mechanical engineering technology courses. In a mechanics of materials course, the students have been required to design a structure for an overhead granary, and a device to upright a large electrical transformer. In a fluid power course, students have been required to size and select components and create a schematic for a small machine. In a machine elements course, students have designed a commercial lawn mower and a ribbon printing machine. Students in a production drawing class have designed and produced a set of working drawings for a stamping die, and have worked with a machine elements class as the documentation personnel on a concurrent engineering project. The projects all require problem definition, data research and collection, analysis of the required components, minimum sizing verses commercially available parts, and a schematic or full set of drawings. The desired outcomes are an increased level of interest, involvement, and to help the students make the transition between theory and practice. Graduates of technology programs are involved in design after either an associate degree or a bachelors degree. These graduates will either assist engineers in the design process; or, be responsible for their own designs. The technologist must understand how the theory is applied to the solution of design problems. Design projects are utilized as a means of applying the theory learned in the courses and exposing the students to real life problem solving. This paper will discuss some of the above named projects; how they are presented, how the students are involved, and the results. Some of the lessons learned will be presented. Reports are a major part of all the design projects. This paper will discuss how progress and final reports are utilized in these projects.

Teaching Design Methodologies Across Engineering Disciplines

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron J. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Colorado School ◽  
Design Processes ◽  
Design Methodologies ◽  
Design Program ◽  
Mechanical Products ◽  
Capstone Design

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) offers a combined capstone design experience for mechanical, civil, electrical and environmental engineering students. In a recent re-invention of our design curriculum, a new emphasis on design methodologies has been implemented. Many of these design methods have origins in the design of electro-mechanical products, and it is certainly in these areas where the most vibrant design communities seem to reside. Yet in a combined setting, analogous design processes appear to exist in a broader engineering design community. This paper describes the capstone design program at CSM, with a focus on the methods that we are teaching and how they translate between disciplines. The lessons learned in such a translation not only illuminate how engineering design may differ in other disciplines, but also may reveal new perspectives on mechanical design processes.

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