Combining Design and Manufacturing Into a First Year Course

摘要

For several decades, Kettering University has taught an introductory course for first year engineering students to acquaint them with the manufacturing processes that they might encounter as part of their cooperative work experience. The revision of the curriculum in 2001 caused a redesign of the course and added some design experiences to further enhance the educational process. This paper discusses the development of the new course called Interdisciplinary Design and Manufacturing and discusses relationship of course coverage to the SME competency gaps. The manufacturing portion describes the lecture topics and laboratory experiments that were an integral part of the course. The mechanical and electrical design portions describe the use of commercial toys and a self-designed toy platform that formed the basis of the new design laboratory portion of the class. It will be demonstrated that it is possible to make a meaningful first year experience for all engineering students combining mechanical and electrical design with manufacturing theory and laboratory.