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Semester-Long Project of a Part Failure for Freshman Students in Mechanical Engineering Technology

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Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Issues in Mechanical Engineering Technology I

Tagged Division

Engineering Technology

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--33256

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/33256

Download Count

283

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Paper Authors

biography

Fredrick A. Nitterright Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

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Mr. Fred Nitterright is a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Technology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. He received the A. A. S. in Mechanical Drafting and Design in 1989 from Westmoreland County Community College, the B. S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology in 1991 from Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and the M. S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1998. Mr. Nitterright is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education ASEE .

Fred Nitterright has been an engineer in the machining, electrical contact assembly, and plastic injection molding industries.

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biography

David Clippinger Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

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Dr. David Clippinger is a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering Technology at the Pennsylvania State University, Erie--the Behrend College. His interests are ship dynamics, measurement & instrumentation, and assessment, especially of student writing.

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Abstract

Semester-Long Project of a Part Failure for Freshman Students in Mechanical Engineering Technology

Freshman Mechanical Engineering Technology students typically have very little engineering knowledge or experience to complete a failure project at this stage of their post-secondary education; therefore, it is difficult to develop an assignment for them to complete that will be interesting, academic level appropriate and achievable. Another challenge is to use varying topics of the course to coincide with the completion of the project

This paper presents how a Semester-Long Project of a Part Failure for Freshman Mechanical Engineering Technology Students was implemented into a Manufacturing and Materials course. At the beginning of the semester, students are required to acquire an everyday part that has failed under normal operating conditions and complete a paper that is collected at the end of the semester. The paper is to include the name and application of the part, material of the part, description of why and the type of failure of the part, how the part was manufactured, and how the failure can be prevented in the future. Students are provided the guidelines for the assignment, the paper format, and the grade sheet the educator uses for the paper.

The project has proven to be rewarding and challenging to both the student and the educator. Also, the project provides other benefits that greatly help to achieve ABET outcomes. The student outcomes should be as follows: ability to apply knowledge to engineering technology activities, ability to conduct standard tests, ability to function as a team member, ability to apply written communication and use appropriate technical literature, and a commitment to quality and timeliness, The mechanics of the project are discussed in this paper in addition to student feedback about the assignment.

Nitterright, F. A., & Clippinger, D. (2019, June), Semester-Long Project of a Part Failure for Freshman Students in Mechanical Engineering Technology Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33256

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