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Introduction to Engineering Design & Prototyping
Introduction to Engineering Design & Prototyping
I created this class to provide students a curricular path to practicing engineering design, building their transferable prototyping and project management skills along the way. The class helps students gain experience with tools commonly found in Maker Spaces, specifically a vinyl plotter, a laser cutter, 3D printers, and a Carvey mill. Students meet for class in the SCU MakerLab.
Here are some reasons why students chose to take this course!
Students who have taken this course to date have ranged from first-year through senior year, have majored in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science and engineering, and economics. As we continue to offer the course, we hope to expand to students of every major on campus!
My priority is to help students feel comfortable running the machines so they can design effectively. We work through an introduction on each tool [I often create user guides/tutorials for them to reference] and students use the tool in an introductory project. Next, we synthesize the tool skills together in a larger design project, building on their knowledge base, often with new/different materials, and within new project constraints. The course culminates in the final project (as shown in Figure 1) where students must integrate tool skills and design process together and create something unique!
Students have a great deal of liberty in their choice of project and can take them home when finished. Ultimately, as a result of this course, students are able to understand the limitations and opportunities of each tool, feel comfortable operating them, can design a project around use of the tool(s), plan their time effectively, and deliver a final prototype!
Figure 1: Visual project path through course
Project Documentation and Communication
Project Documentation and Communication
An important part of the engineering design process is communication. In order to communicate effectively, projects must be documented! In this course, I utilize an electronic portfolio system, Portfolium, where students submit project showcases after every project.
When the course is complete, each student has the six projects in a Portfolium repository. Each project has individual privacy settings to control sharing beyond the class or instructor.
Each project has images or video, descriptive text, and reflective comments about how the design process was utilized, the project successes and areas for improvement. They are prompted to reflect on and include:
- An overall description of what you did and why
- An individual time log with reflections of your project activities. This should be related to your design process for creating your project.
- Include both in-class and outside of class activities - might include research (hyperlink!), brainstorming, prototypes, etc. Make it visual!
- Include a reflection of activities towards your project (what did you learn - was it valuable?)
- A final display of your project - photos and/or videos which give the reader an overview of your final project.
Example portfolio of projects for an ENGR 2 student.
Example Project submission in Portfolium, in this case for Project 3. Note the inclusion of photos (22 in this case!) which illustrate the project in its multiple stages of the design process, along with descriptive and reflective text, and identified skills and tags!
Student Project Gallery
Student Project Gallery
Example Course Materials
Example Course Materials
If you are looking for more details including learning outcomes, grading policies, etc. or more information about how the course is structured (timeline). See resources below!
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