Undergraduate Learning Experiences Through Research In Emerging Areas Of Engineering Design: Product Platform Planning And Design For Managing Product Obsolescence
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Design in Engineering Education
- Page Count
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10
- Page Numbers
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12.1508.1 - 12.1508.10
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--2577
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/2577
- Download Count
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365
Paper Authors
Rahul Rai Virginia Tech
Rahul Rai is a post doctoral researcher at Virginia Tech. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at University of Texas in August 2006. His research interests include qualitative and quantitative sequential sampling, development of methodologies and theories for sustainable and eco-friendly artifact systems and methods to minimize costs and quality loss in a product family. He is a member of ASME and AAAI.
Asli Sahin Virginia Tech
Biosketch: Asli Sahin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research interests focus on
developing and implementing systems that help designers to integrate engineering and management principles into conceptual design of product families and platforms. She received her M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech in December of 2005. She has experience and interest in adapting and developing computer-based visualization instruction models for education and training purposes. She is currently a member of Alpha
Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society, ASME, IIE, and ASEE.
Ashley Studd Virginia Tech
Ashley Studd is a senior Aerospace Engineering student at Virginia Tech. She was involved with the REU program during the 2006-2007 academic year.
Janis Terpenny Virginia Tech
Janis Terpenny is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education with affiliated positions in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. She is co-Director of the NSF multi-university Center for e-Design. Her research interests focus on methods and representation schemes to support early design stages of engineered products and systems. She is currently a member of ASEE, ASME, IIE, and Alpha Pi Mu. She is the Design Economics area editor for The Engineering Economist journal.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Undergraduate Learning Experiences Through Research in Emerging Areas of Engineering Design: Product Platform Planning and Design for Managing Product Obsolescence
Abstract
In this paper, we present the learning experiences of six undergraduates who worked on research projects in the areas of product family and product obsolescence. These areas represent emerging fields in product design. Product platforms enable the planned development and deployment of families of related products whereas traditional design processes optimize on a single design. Design for Managing Product Obsolescence (DfMPO) helps in mitigating and preventing obsolescence of products due to rapid change in technology, thus promoting sustainability. Both product platform and DfMPO place an increased emphasis on management of information due to the reuse of design knowledge. The REU program gave the six students the opportunity to discover design principles and knowledge related to platform design and DfMPO. The students spent a semester applying novel design knowledge representation and visualization techniques to plan product platforms and design principles to prevent product obsolescence. The students worked closely with a faculty, a post-doctoral researcher, and graduate students in the research group. The six students include three freshmen, one junior, and two seniors. Five of the students are women and one is a man. The group represents a variety of engineering disciplines with majors in aerospace, mechanical and industrial engineering. This paper provides an overview of the research conducted by the REU students, the structure of the REU program, and the students’ overall experience including the effects on student interest in graduate school.
Introduction
Basic research in Engineering Design is needed to advance our understanding of the fundamentals of the product realization process. One of the challenges to the research community is to create the necessary connections between the principles of design theory and the practice of design across the broad spectrum of engineered products through the creation of new tools and methods. Through a National Science Foundation sponsored REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) supplement, 6 undergraduate students were given the opportunity to work closely with a faculty, a post-doctoral researcher, and graduate students in the realm of engineering design. This paper presents an overview of the research conducted by the REU students in the area of engineering design, the structure of the REU program, and the students’ overall experience including the effects on student interest in graduate school. Research Overview
The research projects for the undergraduate students (here after referred as REUs) are mainly concentrated in the areas of product family and product obsolescence. These areas represent emerging fields in engineering design. Product platforms enable the planned development and deployment of families of related products whereas traditional design processes optimize on a single design. Design for Managing Product Obsolescence (DfMPO) helps in mitigating and preventing obsolescence of products due to rapid change in technology, thus promoting
Rai, R., & Sahin, A., & Studd, A., & Terpenny, J. (2007, June), Undergraduate Learning Experiences Through Research In Emerging Areas Of Engineering Design: Product Platform Planning And Design For Managing Product Obsolescence Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2577
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