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Introduction to Engineering Applications

The Introduction to Engineering Applications class, also known as Engineering 130 at Boise State University, offers the students a chance to apply the engineering design process, as they work in a team, in order to solve a community service project. The use of the Service Learning project requires students to think critically and creatively as they work together with their clients to solve a real-world problem while also learning about basic engineering principals.

Engineering Design Process

Many Engineers use this design process, or a modified version of it, in order to find a reasonable solution to a problem. The steps include:

• Problem Definition: Here the problem is described with detail, in order to help everyone to understand the objectives (desired outcomes) and constraints (must-haves for the project).
• Concept Design: The problem is broken down into functions. For each function, a solution is thought of. Following this, ideas are combined to make one complete solution. This serves as the first possible solution in the design process.
• Proof of Concept: By creating quick and inexpensive prototypes the concept designs are tested. If a design does not withstand the testing criteria then the team must revert back to the previous step and make modifications to the design in order to meet specifications.
• Detailed Design: This is where the details of the final design will be documented since it has passed all specified tests. This stage of the process includes how the design meets the objectives and constraints per the client's request, as well as detailed plans of how to create the design.
• Design Fabrication: The process of fabricating and assembling the final product based off of the detailed design.
• Delivery of Product: This is the last step in the engineering process where the product is delivered to the client for their use.

An introduction to our Team Members:

Alyssa Clark: A first-year student at Boise State University that is majoring in Engineering. She handled direct communications with the client, attended client meetings as well as the fabrication of multiple prototypes for the ramp system, prototype frames, and applied hands-on techniques in the system fabrication process with the aid of Alexander Flink.

Kevin Patterson: A Gaming, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology (GIMM) major at Boise State University. He utilized the engineering design process to create the first viable designs of the 3-D printed connectors for our track pieces and utilized hands-on techniques to smooth out the rough edges of our final product.

Alexander Flink: A first-year Junior at Boise State University as an engineering student that is majoring Electrical and Computer Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. He holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Advanced Mechatronic Engineering Technology from the College of Western Idaho. He attended direct-communication client meetings as well as handling the designing and fabrication of the prototypes for the ramp system, prototype frames, as well as the design and assembly of the final system produced with the aid of Alyssa Clark.

Melaney Freeman: A Boise State University Senior that is majoring in Gaming, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology (GIMM). She has designed aesthetically pleasing ramps for this project, ensuring that they met or exceeded all safety standards set forth by policy for the product to be used by small children. In addition to this, she ensured that the design process remained within the project budget and aided in the prototype design process.

Our Client

For the duration of this project, we were working with the Children's Center at Boise State University. The Children's Center provides child care to the children of Boise State students, staff, faculty, as well as members within the community. Their mission is "To provide quality early childhood learning experiences to the children of the Boise State University community in a warm and nurturing, developmentally appropriate environment."

We worked specifically with Yvette Mere-Cooke who is the clinical assistant professor, and Sylvia Horning, who is one of the teachers in the toddler classroom that this project was intended for.

Our Project

Yvette and Sylvia desired an improved ramp system that allowed children to experiment with angles and to learn problem-solving while within their classroom. The children needed to be able to manipulate the parts of the system in order to create their own unique designs with each interaction.