PRECISION ENGINEERING EDUCATION AT MIT VIA HANDS-ON DESIGN PROJECTS: THE MIT NANO-ETCHA-SKETCH PROJECT

摘要

Project-based courses have long been used to teach the fundamentals of engineering design. This hands-on approach is used at MIT to teach engineering students several fundamental principles of precision engineering: (1). Flexure design (2). Magnet-coil design (3). Basic electronics/control (4). Precision fixturing (5). Precision measurement (6). Natural frequency and mode shapes (7). Vibration isolation (8). Thermal sensitivity/design (9). Deterministic design practices. These fundamentals are taght in 2.000: How and Why Machines Work. During this semester-long course, freshmen engineering students are tasked with two separate precision design projects: (1). Nano-etch-a-sketch: Modeling, design, fabrication and characterization of a two-axis, macro-scale Nanomanipulator (a Nano-etch-a-sketch). (2). MEMS accelerometer: Modeling, design and characterization of a MEMS mass-spring accelerometer. The following sections describe the projects and philosophy/tools the students use to learn the preceding fundamentals. The curriculum which supports these activities is freely available.