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Session 1125

Using Industry-Like Product Development Projects in Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Courses

Karim H. Muci-Küchler1 and Jonathan M. Weaver2 1 Mechanical Engineering Department South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 2 Mechanical Engineering Department University of Detroit Mercy

Abstract

A good engineering education involves more than preparing students that have sound technical knowledge in a particular discipline. The undergraduate program needs to provide a comprehensive education that incorporates as many practical experiences as possible. In this regard, a carefully selected product development project sponsored by a company and involving the participation of some of its engineers as mentors, reviewers, and evaluators, can serve to closely emulate industrial practice in a capstone design course. There are many crucial activities and potential pitfalls of such an approach. Initial project selection must be appropriate in scope, involve suitable application of analytical tools, and be containable in time, cost, testing requirements, fabrication capabilities, etc. Substantial resources are required from the industrial partners and care must be taken to address any intellectual property concerns. However, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Students solve a real industrial problem of interest to the sponsoring company following a structured product development process similar to what they will be expected to do upon graduation. Through interactions with the mentoring engineers, they are coached in many important areas, including corporate and regulatory requirements, design for manufacturing and assembly, etc. This paper will present as a case study a project sponsored by an automaker to develop a hard tonneau cover for a convertible vehicle. We will describe how some of the potential pitfalls were addressed, summarize the process that the students followed, describe the roles of the faculty member and the company personnel involved, and summarize the results obtained and lessons learned.

Introduction

Today it is widely recognized that a good engineering education involves more than preparing students that have sound technical knowledge in a particular engineering discipline. Now the end goal of the undergraduate engineering curriculum is to provide the students with a comprehensive education that will allow them to meet the expectations of prospective employers and help them to achieve success in their professional career. In addition to technical knowledge,

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Muci, K., & Weaver, J. (2005, June), Using Industry Like Product Development Projects In Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Courses Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14866