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Revision as of 15:16, 3 September 2008

Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Course 24-441 / 24-442

In this course, students will gain hands-on, practical experience applying engineering principles, theories, thought processes, and problem-solving approaches to the design and prototyping of a physical product. Students will develop skills for working in teams, working with open-ended problems, and making appropriate engineering assumptions. Students are expected to research the topic area, identify opportunities and design criteria, generate creative concepts, synthesize detailed design of the concept, analyze the design on a number of criteria to make improvements, and prototype and communicate the final solution.

Topics

While most courses in the mechanical engineering curriculum focus on structured transfer of theoretical knowledge in analysis of mechanical phenomena, this course aims to provide students with a chance to build complimentary experiential knowledge in application and synthesis. Topics covered include

• design process,
• project planning,
• product dissection,
• design for manufacturing and assembly,
• engineering ethics,
• failure mode and effects analysis,
• life cycle assessment,
• design for environment,
• market research
• concept generation and concept selection techniques,
• quality function deployment,
• intellectual property,
• detailed design,
• engineering drawings,
• tolerance selection,
• prototyping,
• professionalism,
• design optimization,
• machine component design, and
• engineering economics.

Course Website

Website for those enrolled in the course.
Password needed.
http://www.cmu.edu/blackboard/

Projects

The links below contain a history of projects with links to project wiki reports.

Fall 2008

The fall 2008 theme is to analyze an existing product chosen by student teams under a set of selection guidelines. Each team is assigned to study the design of the existing product, identify unmet needs, and then either redesign the existing product or design a new product to address an unmet need.

Fall 2007

The fall 2007 theme was to analyze an existing product chosen by student teams under a set of selection guidelines. Each team was assigned to study the design of the existing product, identify unmet needs, and then either redesign the existing product or design a new product to address an unmet need. The links below show study of the existing product. Some links also show new product design, but many of the new designs were completed offline because of intellectual property concerns.

Spring 2007

The spring 2007 theme was analysis and redesign of an existing product or mechanical system chosen by student teams under a set of selection guidelines. Each team was assigned to study the design of the existing product, identify unmet needs, and then either redesign the existing product or design a new product to address an unmet need. The links below show study of the existing product. Some links also show new product design, but many of the new designs were completed offline because of intellectual property concerns.