A Coordinated Design Course Sequence to Integrate Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Experience

Abstract

Modern engineering practitioners are generally involved with product development of tools, devices and systems with increasing complexities. Their tasks include multi-faceted roles to employ a holistic design process including market analysis, research and development, design execution, prototype fabrication, quality control, testing and certification of the related products. Accounting for these aspects in the modern engineering world, traditional in-class teaching methods may need to be modified to adequately prepare students to be competent in today's industry. Therefore, there is an increased emphasis in providing design experience through integrated project-based learning throughout the engineering curriculum. In this paper, we will present our recent efforts at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University-Florida State University College of Engineering (FAMU-FSU COE) to develop a coordinated and integrated three-semester course sequence to the capstone experience. The broad aim is to introduce the overall design process through project planning, management, and product development with an emphasis on creativity. In the first class, Engineering Design Methods (EDM), junior-level students are taught various collaborative learning strategies as well as a formal design process including all necessary design tools. They are also required to engage with capstone design teams which have been working on their capstone design projects in the Senior Design Project (SDP) course during the same semester. The EDM students acquire skills in preparation for their capstone experience while rehearsing these design skills by shadowing SDP teams in a virtual design mode. In the subsequent two-semester SDP course, senior level students are grouped in teams working on externally-sponsored projects while applying skill sets learned from EDM and other core engineering courses. Most of the SDPs are real-world inspired projects, which are externally sponsored by industry and government agencies, and many of them are multidisciplinary in nature involving engineering as well as non-engineering students. In addition to carry out these design tasks, they are also required to interact with students in the EDM class and provide feedback to their junior-level peers while enhancing their skills in communication and design implementation through reflective learning. Pre and post-class surveys and feedback sessions are conducted to not only gain inputs from students to improve the coordinated learning process, but also to engage them in self-reflection for continuous learning. The crux of the effort here is to develop an extendable and streamlined methodology that achieves a wholesome learning experience from the students' point of view, while adhering to syllabus and ABET guidelines. We will also report our recent efforts in coordinating multidisciplinary, crossinstitutional and international design projects since they serve to expand our students' communication and collaborative sk...