Syllabus

Syllabus with quarter Specific Information

Course Catalog Description:

This course will teach teams of students how to develop product concepts and business plans in the design of new and innovative products. Emphasis will be placed on identifying user needs, concept generation, and prototype fabrication.

Prerequisites: Junior or Senior standing and Permission of Instructor.

Weekly Hours:

· 3 hours lecture

· 1 hour lab

· 8 hours homework

Course Overview

Whether it is a running shoe that records your exercise or a sustainable irrigation system for rural Africa, Product Design is important for both established companies and social entrepreneurs. A successful product requires matching of user needs with available technology with consideration of manufacturing and marketing. In this course we will learn methodologies for identifying customer needs, developing new product concepts, prototype development, estimation of manufacturing costs, and developing business plans to support the development and marketing of these products. In this class students will have the opportunity to develop their own product concepts. Product concepts pursued in this course are restricted to products where it is feasible to build proof-of-concept prototypes in this or other undergraduate courses. Funding opportunities for prototype development will be covered including grants and design contests. In addition, opportunities for business guidance such as the UCSD von Liebig center will also be covered.

There will be two phases in the course:

    • Each student will develop their own product concepts and present them to the rest of the class ( 3 weeks).

    • New Product Development (7 weeks). Teams of students will develop their own product concepts, build simple prototypes of their design, and write development plans for the products. To stimulate product concepts guest lectures will be invited to present a range of design challenges. Challenge areas will include consumer products and the needs of the developing world, sustainability, and other users of non-profit organization services. However, it will be the students that choose the topic of the product they wish to pursue. Students will form teams around the concepts they generate. Outside experts will be invited to review the product concepts. The UCSD patent policy will be covered in this course so that students can address overall intellectual property ownership.

A lab portion of the course will instruct students in prototype development in areas such as 3D printing, vacuum molding, and use of sensors.

It is not expected that all teams will be able to complete fully function prototypes within the time constraints of the Product Design & Entrepreneurship course. Accordingly, students will be encouraged to continue their project in a capstone design courses such as Mechanical Engineering Design, MAE 156A&B. Students wishing to continue their project in a capstone course will be required to receive approval from the instructor of the course and are encouraged to contact the instructor early on.

Textbooks:

Library Soft Reserves, which includes sections of:

  • The Art of the Start by Guy Kawaski, 2004

Course Topics

- Product Design Cycle

- Identification of Customer Needs and Market Research Essentials

- Concept Generation

- Technology and Market Assessment

- Introduction to Industrial Design and Human Factors

- Estimation of Manufacturing Costs

- Introduction to Business Plans

- Introduction to Intellectual Property and the Patent Process

- Formation of Entrepreneurial Teams