This paper describes the development of an innovative introductory manufacturing processes course designed to expose students to a broad overview of fundamental concepts, methods, procedures, tools, and equipment used in the manufacturing industry. Based on an educational mobile inverted pendulum robot, students are introduced to product design and prototyping by identifying an existing problem with a component in the robot, redesigning the component using computer aided design software, and then building a prototype using additive manufacturing methods. Subsequently, a set of hypothetical design requirement changes is imposed, and various design methods and manufacturing processes that can be used to make components to satisfy these new requirements are discussed. Topics covered include integrated product design, additive manufacturing prototyping based on different technologies, plastic injection molding, sand casting, and fundamentals of both computer aided manufacturing and computer numerical control machining. Tools, fixtures, and accessories required in these processes, as well as associated challenges, are also discussed. This course adapts the inquiry-based learning active learning pedagogical approach and focuses on the development of students’ ability to conduct analytical analysis and to apply a knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology to solve practical engineering technology problems. As an introductory course designed to be offered to freshman level students, this course engages students in engineering technology related topics and stimulates their interest in manufacturing related subjects. It helps with improving the engineering student retention rate and serves as a pathway connecting students to more advanced specialized manufacturing courses such as computer numerical control machining technology. This paper presents course materials developed and student feedback as well as their evaluation of the course effectiveness based on a summative questionnaire-style survey from the first cohort of students.

SHSU). He teaches courses in areas related to product design, manufacturing processes, CAD, and HVAC. His research interests include finite element method (FEM) based numerical simulation, heat transfer and fluid dynamics with application to alternative energy, and engineering education.

Additive manufacturing has been used extensively for the last decade in making different parts of different complexities. One of the additive manufacturing methods discussed in this work is binder jetting additive manufacturing (BJAM) process where a liquid-based binder is deposited on the powder bed to make the part layer by layer. In this work, ceramics particles are used to investigate the effect of the part geometry on the density and shrinkage of the part made. Three different shapes (spheres, cylinders, and rectangular blocks) of the same size are printed at 100%, 75% core saturation limit at zero second and 10-seconds delay using a binder jetting 3D printer at 0.2 mm layer thickness. The green parts are de-powdered and dried for 6–8 hours using a drying heater at 35° C then de-bound and sintered to improve the strength and the density of the part made. We use ceramics powder of particle size range 50–200 μm to print the parts. It is found that the apparent density of the rectangular block is the highest in all cases except at 100% saturation with 10-seconds delay. The apparent densities of the sphere and the cylinder are very close to each other. Also, the shrinkage percentage for the sphere is the highest then cylinder comes next, and the rectangular block comes last in all cases except when the core saturation is 100% and delay is 0 second where the cylinder shrinkage is higher than that of the sphere. The reason behind this is maybe the difference in the surface area of each part printed. It is noticed also that the relative density obtained is in the range of about 79% to about 85% and the shrinkage percentage is in the range of 36% to 55%.