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Gearhead Moments of Zen: Using Real-World Examples Of Supercar Design to Teach Introductory Design and Manufacturing

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Conference

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

Publication Date

June 26, 2016

Start Date

June 26, 2016

End Date

June 29, 2016

ISBN

978-0-692-68565-5

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Innovative Project-Based Learning Practices in Manufacturing

Tagged Division

Manufacturing

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/p.27004

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/27004

Download Count

725

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Paper Authors

biography

Dawn Wendell Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Dr. Dawn Wendell is an engineer whose past projects range from BattleBots robots to medical devices, for which she holds several patents. She received four degrees from MIT including a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. She worked as a fluid mechanics researcher in Paris, France before returning to MIT as Assistant Director of Admissions. Currently Dr. Wendell works as a Senior Lecturer in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering teaching design, manufacturing, and instrumentation.

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biography

Amos G. Winter V Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Amos Winter is the Ratan N. Tata Career Development Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He earned a B.S. from Tufts University (2003) and an M.S. (2005) and Ph.D. (2011) from MIT, all in mechanical engineering. Prof. Winter’s research group, the Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Lab, characterizes the unique technical and socioeconomic constraints of emerging markets and then uses engineering science and product design to create high-performance, low-cost, globally-relevant technologies. The group primarily focuses on assistive devices, brackish water desalination, drip irrigation, and agricultural technologies. GEAR Lab won the 2015 USAID Desal Prize for creating a community-scale, solar-powered electrodialysis desalination system, which will be piloted in India and Gaza in 2016. Prof. Winter is the principal inventor of the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC), an all-terrain wheelchair designed for developing countries that was a winner of a 2010 R&D 100 award, was named one of the Wall Street Journal’s top innovations in 2011, and received a Patents for Humanity award from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2015. He also received the 2010 Tufts University Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2012 ASME/Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal, and was named one of the MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35 (TR35) for 2013. Prof. Winter is a co-founder of Global Research Innovation and Technology, a company that has commercialized the LFC for developing countries and also produces the Freedom Chair, a derivative for the U.S./European market.

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Abstract

This paper gives three case-study examples of design lessons in the introductory Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing class. These brief lessons, named “Gearhead Moments of Zen”, relate the lecture concepts to the design of supercars through simple calculations and analysis. The “Moments of Zen” provide a break from the normal lecture format of the class, show how first-order calculations can elucidate important information about design specifications, and allow the students to relate to the lecture material in a different way. This paper covers examples of three engineering concepts and the associated Moments of Zen: torque, power, and couplings.

Wendell, D., & Winter, A. G. (2016, June), Gearhead Moments of Zen: Using Real-World Examples Of Supercar Design to Teach Introductory Design and Manufacturing Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.27004

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