2007 asee annual conference honolulu, hawaii, june 24-27, 2007 1 senior design projects in...

2007 ASEE Annual ConferenceHonolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007

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Senior Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering – Active Involvement of Industry Partners and

Advisory Council C. Luongo(1), C. Shih(1), J.W. Sturges(2), D.C. Bogles(2) , and R.A. Wright(2)

(1) Professors

Department of Mechanical Engineering

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Tallahassee, Florida

(2) Engineering Directors

Lockheed-Martin Corporation

ContactE-mail: [email protected]: (850)-644-1095


2

Undergraduate Program Overview

• Mechanical Engineering Web site– www.eng.fsu.edu/me

• Program Flowchart/Advising

• Curriculum Structure

• Senior Capstone Design


3

Integrated Curriculum

• Capstone design and eng. design methods run concurrently during senior year, design is otherwise taught in Intro. to ME and embedded in curriculum

• Department has about 325 undergraduate students with a declared ME major, and graduates ~ 60-70 BSME per year


5

Increase in Class Size and Industrial Sponsorships

AcademicYear

StudentEnrollment

Number ofProjects

Avg. Number ofStudents per Team

Fraction of Industry-Sponsored Projects

99-00 56 17 3.3 12% (2/17)

00-01 40 12 3.3 25% (3/12)

01-02 56 18 3.1 44% (8/18)

02-03 46 13 3.5 54% (7/13)

03-04 47 13 3.6 54% (7/13)

04-05 60 15 4.0 80% (12/15)

05-06 65 16 4.1 88% (14/16)

06-07 52 14 3.7 86% (12/14)

Growth - Projected Class Sizes 07-08: 90 , 08-09: ~ 100


6

Project Descriptions

A wide variety of student projects spanning the entire spectrum of mechanical engineering practice

(shared in design reviews for class exposure)

• Elgin/AFRL - Autonomous lawnmower • Elgin/AFRL - Fuel injection system • Elgin/AFRL - Dynamic tensile test unit• Elgin/AFRL - Human Parasail System• Micro-hydro power generation • Submersible robot for underwater cave exploration (Woodsville Karst Plain Project)• ASME human-powered vehicle • Lockheed – Combat vehicle IED simulator • Lockheed – Projector stabilizer mount • Cummins – Crankshaft fatigue tester • Cummins – Rotating/bending tensile tester • Shell - Tri-generation system (international collaboration with Brazil Parana U) • CERN - Shaft balancing (international collaboration with Romania, Budapest U) • Talla-Tech - Immersion tank


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Design Review and Open House

• One-day senior capstone design review mini-symposium

– Early April– Oral presentations for all teams– Hardware showcase and poster session– Dinner and award announcement in the evening– followed by the two-day MEAC spring meeting and ME annual assessment meeting


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Open House (cont’d)

• Done “early” to allow project completion prior to finals/graduation rush

• Motivation for students to showcase project results

• Invitation to all sponsors and industrial advisory board members– Panel of “judges” (all from industrial sponsors and MEAC members)

– Best-in-category awards (certificates)

– Overall program review by advisory board (ABET assessment loop)• Advisory Council meeting scheduled to immediately follow senior design open

house

• Opportunity for underclassmen to observe senior projects (college-wide)

• Follow-up with feedback requests– Sponsors/MEAC

– Senior exit interviews


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Project Harvesting/Sponsors

• Effort through summer to harvest enough projects– Industrial partners in advisory board (35 out of 71 since 03-07)

– Local companies

– Course alumni

– Faculty contacts

– Professional organizations design competitions

• Consistent sponsors:– AFRL at Eglin AFB (17), Lockheed-Martin (Orlando, Huntsville,

etc., 8), Cummins Engines (6), Sandia National Lab (4), Boeing, Shell Oil, Talla-Tech

• Other strong sponsors:– Rancho Suspension, Growth Innovations, National High Magnetic

Field Laboratory (FSU), Center for Advanced Power Systems (FSU)

– Variety of small local businesses and individuals


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Industrial Participation (Flowchart)

Fall Semester(Design)

Spring Semester(Implementation)

Summer(Project harvesting)

Open House(Final review)

MEAC review

Project Follow-up(throughout year)

Project Definition(Kickoff)

Feedback to sponsors(project harvesting

and selection)

Feedback to MEDept. (ABET cycle)

Final Project Review(Judging)


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Industrial/MEAC Involvement –

• Projects come from industry as part of a broader relationship, not just as senior projects– Potential recruitment, advisory board involvement, interest on some

research areas, sustainable involvement, etc.

– Need a “champion” at a higher level, also need people in the “trenches” with a genuine interest in working with students and act as “customer/mentor”

• Projects need to be selected carefully for scope and difficulty (enough resources, etc.)

• Direct involvement of industrial partners and MEAC has resulted in improvements through assessment/feedback– A specific example will be given


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Evolution of Capstone Design Curriculum

• Embedded Model (1999-2003)– 4+4 units (Fall/Spring of senior year)

– Combined lectures, Engineering Design Methods (EDM) and concurrent year-long projects

– Problems: Lecture material too late for project, project delay, combined grading encouraged students to concentrate on coursework in detriment of projects

• Just-in-time model (2003-date)– 3+3+3 units (Fall/Fall/Spring of senior year)

– Separate Engineering Design Method (EDM) class from the Capstone project class

– Problems: Lecture material still too late for projects; students not practicing formal design process in core courses

Capstone-1Capstone-1


EDMEDM



EDM

EDM

Proposed new modelProposed new model

Intro. to ME

Intro. to ME

Intro. to ME

Intro. to ME


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Proposed New Model – Design Integration

1st Year Engineering Lab1st Year Engineering Lab

ME ToolsME Tools Introduction to MEIntroduction to ME

Engineering Design MethodsEDM

Engineering Design MethodsEDM



Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

• First exposure of engineering processes

• ME as a profession• Design process• CAD, tool sets, machine shop practice

• Product design cycle• Engineering economics• Statistics, reliability, optimization• Implementation “design practice” in junior-level core courses

• two-semester capstone project design/realization


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Proposed Modules in EDM

Design Process:• Product design cycle• Project management

Design Process:• Product design cycle• Project management

Design for “X” (DFX):• Manufacturing/assembly• Reliability (statistics)

Design for “X” (DFX):• Manufacturing/assembly• Reliability (statistics)

Engineering Economy• Economic principle• Cost analysis

Engineering Economy• Economic principle• Cost analysis

Modeling & Optimization:• System engineering• Design trade space• System optimization

Modeling & Optimization:• System engineering• Design trade space• System optimization

• Other components: legal, ethical, environmental, societal issues, team work, communication• Guest lectures by MEAC members and other engineering professionals• Coordinate with junior-level core courses to implement formal design practice in project realization


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The Challenges Ahead

• Continue to expand circle of industrial partners to keep up with program growth

• Streamline the process for project harvesting and management/mentoring

• Expand college-wide to allow for multi-disciplinary teams and projects

• Expand international collaborations to expose students to engineering in a global economy (ongoing)

• Fully integrating the design process with the core curriculum; both vertically and horizontally


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Conclusions

• Well established capstone design course at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering– 8 years running, strong industrial participation, including high rate of

returning customers

• Industry participation is an important part of making capstone experience “realistic”

• ME Advisory Council has been instrumental in increasing industrial participation in capstone projects and help us close an annual ABET assessment cycle that includes the senior project open house

• Partnering with industry has been beneficial for all involved as evidenced by its self-sustainability


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Engineer of 2020

• The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century & Educating The Engineer of 2020 (published by the National Academy of Engineering, www.nae.edu)

• Desired Attributes– Strong analytical skills– Practical ingenuity– Creative/innovative– Good communication skills– Master business & management principles– Leadership quality– High ethical standards/professionalism– Dynamic, agile, resilient, and flexible– Lifelong learners


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Re-engineer the Engineering Education System – Some Interesting Proposals/Observations

• BS in engineering Pre-engineering degree for entry-level engineer position

• New Liberal arts degree in the 21st century (springboard for other careers)

• Professional “Master” degree program (modeled after law, medicine, pharmacy degrees)

• Emphasis on the first-year engineering curriculum – design, team-based, hands-on activities

• The Global Engineer – challenges and opportunities from national and international levels; need skills to be globally competitive

2007 asee annual conference honolulu, hawaii, june 24-27, 2007 1 senior design projects in...

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