부산대학교 도서관

Machine design is a cornerstone foundation course in any Mechanical Engineering program. The traditional objective of this course is to engage students with analysis techniques to guard against specific failure modes or to predict a product's life cycle based on a loading scenario. Generally, the course is taught by introduction of a topic first, e.g. static failure criteria, then examples are presented and homework sets are assigned to allow students to practice and sharpen their problem solving skills. The current methodology lacks the implementation of the complete engineering design process and the integration of other knowledge domains such as manufacturing. Additionally, the current course structure does not usually stimulate creativity necessary for the design process (ideation) or train students on decision making based on objective criteria. This paper presents an enhanced course structure developed over the past few years for a more comprehensive approach to machine design. The new course structure is hinged on the application of engineering design process, knowledge integration from prior courses as well as industrial practice, and adoption of design matrices as an objective decision making tool. We have retained many of the traditional pedagogies used in teaching machine design and supplement this educational experience with a significant project component based on current customer-need or economical challenge. Through the project students learn to: 1) create the design envelop based on a provided statement or requirement document; 2) define specific, meaningful, and measurable goals; 3) synthesize creative ideas to solve the problem; 4) perform a patent search to verify the innovative nature of their ideas; 5) produce a design matrix with evaluation criteria based on the goals and expected functionality; and 6) perform an in depth engineering analysis based on mechanics of materials, manufacturability, assembly, and packaging. The inclusion of an intensive writing and presentation experience with critical feedback engages students in a continuous reflection on the elements of the complete design process throughout the entire semester. It was found that this approach produces students who are better prepared for their senior design projects and engineering practice. Students noted an increase in their understanding of machine design concepts as an integration of all their prior preparatory training. The effectiveness of the revised course structure was evaluated through a survey of previous and current students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]