Session S2G INTEGRATION OF DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES IN FIRSTYEAR ENGINEERING CURRICULUMS

Jeffrey Ray and John Farris

Grand Valley State University, Padnos School of Engineering, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504

Abstract: Current industry expectations of engineering graduates are becoming increasingly more demanding in the areas of design and manufacturing. Their concerns are focused on the fact that graduates are not capable of producing realizable results based on their conceptual designs. One reason for this is their inexperience in understanding interrelationships between the design and manufacturing processes required to fabricate engineering designs. Engineering curriculums tend to overlook design and manufacturing relationships until the senior capstone course sequence. The Padnos School of Engineering offers programs in Computer, Electrical, Manufacturing, and Mechanical Engineering. All students in the programs participate in a mandatory co-op engineering program. Response from the co-op employers has consistently focused on the students abilities in realizing conceptual designs, the processes required to produce a given design, and the ability to function in interdisciplinary design teams. For all of our students, the first course in the program is Engineering Principles I, a traditional engineering graphics course using CAD. To address the concerns of industry, we have adopted a new methodology for teaching students the design process and the subsequent manufacturing of products. This has been accomplished using 3D solid modeling techniques for design and hands-on CNC milling exercises for producing their designs. Four design and build exercises used in the course, two of these are performed individually and two are completed in teams. Results of the pilot program have been received positively by both the students and the faculty. This paper examines the effectiveness of offering a nontraditional approach to the engineering graphics course, and discusses the types of projects implemented.

design and visualization skills as related to creative engineering solutions. It was also aimed at increasing the students abilities to experience product realization before going out on co-op. The PSE requires all of its students to participate in an alternating semester co-op program with industry. Several reports from engineering professional societies have been issued over the past three years [1-2]. These reports have focused on competency gaps identified in current engineering curriculums. Some of the identified gaps include: Ability to create and document engineering designs 3D solid modeling skills Knowledge of computer-aided manufacturing

As further proof of the need to address these gaps, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology programs, with the new EC 2000 accreditation [3] criterion has placed much more focus on design and product realization for engineering graduates. In particular, the criterion lists several areas, which are directly linked to firstyear engineering programs. These include: Ability to design a system or component Effective communication Use of modern engineering tools and techniques

INTRODUCTION
The Padnos School of Engineering (PSE) at Grand Valley State University supports programs in Computer, Electrical, Manufacturing, and Mechanical engineering disciplines. The first course that all calculus-ready engineering students enroll in is EGR 101 Engineering Principles I. This course has been taught as a traditional engineering graphics course with computer-aided applications. Topics covered in this course were those typically found in any 2D engineering graphics course. During Fall Semester 1999, we piloted two sections of a revised course to include 3D solid modeling techniques, design, and actual production of student designs. The aim of this technique was to improve the students

In addition, the PSE has adopted several additional outcomes for its graduates. These outcomes are based on requests from our co-op employers. Specifically, they have requested that our students better understand the manufacturing relationships of design and manufacturing tolerances. This paper outlines our efforts in addressing the above competency gaps in engineering design graphics education. First, the goals and objectives of a course implementing 3D computer-aided design and manufacturing are presented. Next, the pilot course outline is presented along with typical design projects implemented. Finally, results and conclusions of the pilot course are discussed, along with recommendations for full implementation of the method.

COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Engineering curriculums in the United States have typically used the engineering graphics course as the foundation of most programs. During the past decade revisions in

0-7803-6424-4/00/$10.00 2000 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2000 Kansas City, MO 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2G-7

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engineering graphics education has concentrated on the 2D to 3D transition [4-8]. The inclusion of 3D solid modeling has enabled educators to focus more attention on the design process. This approach has primarily been concerned with the technical skills required to understand the technology and its practice with whatever software is implemented. In the PSE, the typical offering of EGR 101 Engineering Principles I was focused on implementing the computer as a direct replacement for the drawing board. This course did not fully introduce students to the engineering design process and the subsequent manufacturing processes needed to produce a physical realization of the students design. Our basic goal for the course is to introduce students to fundamental methods of design, manufacturing, and to experience the art to part process. The revised pilot course uses 3D solid modeling techniques to treat the computer model not as a geometric representation, but as a design database. This methodology allows students the capability of exploiting the database to see the benefits of other applications as CNC toolpath planning and validation and finite element analysis. We specifically set the following objectives for the revised course: Introduce students to 3D modeling techniques and skills Treat the model geometry, not as a model, but as a design database Produce physical realizations of their designs using CNC mills Solve manufacturing process problems Experience the iterative design process Work in both team and individual environments These particular components were used to minimize the impact of the associated costs of new course startup. The decision to use AutoCAD as the 3D solid modeling software, over a parametric feature-based version, was due to the capabilities of the core graphics kernel implemented in the package. Beginning Fall 2000, the full implementation of the course will integrate parametric, feature-based software. The choices have been narrowed down to either Pro/Engineer or Solidworks. Based on the objectives for the course, several benchtop CNC mills were evaluated. Using the criteria established and the 3-axis capabilities and tool sizes to be implemented, it was decided to use MAX/NC Series 10 milling machines. An additional benefit of this particular mill is its versatility in handling different engineering materials. The above software and hardware were implemented in the EGR 101 pilot sections, offered during Fall semester 1999, with remarkable success in meeting the course goals and objectives. Individual and teams of students were able to fully realize their designs from concept to final production, enabling them to be fully involved in both conceptual design generation and the manufacturing processes to produce those designs. The course

COURSE OUTLINE
Engineering Principles I is a three credit hour course. The format for the course consists of two fifty-minute lecture periods and a three-hour laboratory period per week over a fifteen week semester. Lecture sessions are held in typical classrooms, while laboratory sessions meet in a computeraided design studio, complete with computer overhead projection capabilities. It was expected that all students enrolled in the course have Calculus I as a minimum corequisite. One decision made concerning the revised course was to treat the lecture session as an aid for the laboratory sessions, rather than a more traditional approach of the lab supporting the lecture. In order to study the effects of offering this approach the authors were the only instructors used in teaching the both lecture portions and four of the laboratory sessions of the course. Another faculty member was used to teach another lab session. This approach was taken to reduce any variation in topics covered. A topical outline of the pilot course is shown in Table 1.

In order to meet the above stated objectives the existing course was restructured rather than creating a second new course. Our goal was to expose students to the concepts of design and manufacturing during their first semester of engineering school. This was mandated, not only by request from our co-op employers, but due to the extensive nature of design and build projects incorporated throughout the PSE curriculum. An Engineering Design Conference was included at the end of the course, replacing a final exam, to allow students to orally present the results of a five-week long complex design project. In offering a new implementation of any engineering graphics and design course much thought goes into the selection of the appropriate hardware and software. The hardware and software requirements for implementing this new strategy in engineering design and manufacturing included the following: AutoCAD R14 SurfCAM MAX/NC Series 10 / 3-axis CNC milling machines

0-7803-6424-4/00/$10.00 2000 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2000 Kansas City, MO 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2G-8

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Table 1. Topical Outline for EGR 101 - Engineering Principles I Week 1 2 3 4 Topics Design process / Design project I 3D pictorial sketching techniques, base feature creation, creation of solids by extrusion and revolution 2D orthographic sketching techniques / Manual G-coding design project II Vectors, coordinate systems, Boolean operations and advanced solid modeling commands Exploiting the CAD design database for detail drawings, mass, toolpath generation, and FEA / Design Project III assigned Dimensioned drawing generation Use of metrology equipment, lifting hook redesign project Fastener types and selection, drill and tap skills Design project IV assigned Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing Self-directed final project work Design documentation Assembly drawings and bill of materials Complete final project and first-year engineering design conference student teams. The design and build projects used during the Fall 1999 pilot sections include: Keychain Fixture plate Lifting hook Students choice, minimum of two mating parts

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

The lecture sessions were focused on introducing the students to the theory and concepts for a particular topic. Lectures were presented using Microsoft PowerPoint with outlines provided to students before class. This approach allows the students time to concentrate on the material being presented and the use of hands-on exercises during class time. The hands-on exercises included freehand design and multiview sketching, dimensioning, Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing, and measurement methods. Laboratory sessions are devoted to applying the techniques learned in lecture, in addition to necessary software skills needed. The goal of the lab sessions is to introduce students to developing conceptual designs and producing those designs with the CNC mills from plastic stock. Each of the four design projects, initiated within a particular lab session, is intended to build upon the lecture and lab material and allow progressively more difficult design projects to be undertaken by individual students and

These projects were used to meet the objectives and goals for the course as outlined above. All projects require either individual students or student teams to produce physical realizations of their designs. The first project is begun during the first week of the course. It is a systematic tutorial designed to introduce the complete design and manufacturing cycle. The tutorial consists of keystroke commands to utilize all of the software and hardware capabilities of the course. This allows the students exposure to all of the concepts that will be covered during the semester in only one session. Students are given the overall dimensions of the stock material and allowed to create their own design for a keychain. The design project is conducted by each individual student. Another individual student project is used for the second design project. The project consists of students manually writing the G -codes for an ornamental trivet, from a 3D computer-aided design model. This project is used to reinforce the students knowledge of brainstorming, sketching 3D design ideas, and producing physical realizations of their designs. In addition, the concept of manufacturing process tolerancing is introduced. Teams of students are randomly selected for the third design project. This project consists of designing and building a lifting hook for use in light industrial applications. Students are presented a situation, from a fictitious company, to redesign a lifting hook in order to reduce weight by 25%. The purpose of the project is multi-faceted. First, students are required to work in teams of two. Next, they must select an appropriate design and use the CAD database to determine the weight reduction. Finally, they must physically produce the design, which must include machining the lifting hook from both sides, thus introducing students to the concept of manufacturing tolerances. Finally, another round of randomly selected teams are formed for the fourth project. Care is taken to not allow the same team of students to work on consecutive projects. The design project presented is more open-ended in nature than the previous projects, and is presented as a request for proposal (RFP) from a venture capitalist firm. The intent is to allow student teams to implement the knowledge and skills acquired from both the lecture and lab sessions to a real product development cycle. Students are given the freedom to choose from a list of prepared ideas or propose their own project consideration, pending faculty review. The intent of this final project is that it consists of a minimum of two mating components, thus emphasizing the

0-7803-6424-4/00/$10.00 2000 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2000 Kansas City, MO 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2G-9

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need to appreciate the design and manufacturing processes involved in engineering design. The product development concepts presented to the students include: CD carrying case Computer disk carrying case Prototypes of ergonomic handles for common tools such as: saws, screwdrivers, Car key fobs, joy sticks, computer mice Desk organizer Remote control case Ergonomic stapler

RESULTS
One of the most unusual results about the pilot course was how much students enjoyed the course and did not complain about the amount of work outside of the lecture/lab sessions. Since this is the first course taken by pre-engineering students their technical background and experience differs greatly. This results in students having to spend even more additional time outside of class and lab to catch up. An observation was made, by other faculty, that they had noticed a significant change in student attitudes towards helping each other. We designed a survey for the students to complete during the subsequent semester. Of the 53 students who successfully completed EGR 101 during Fall 1999, 36 students completed the survey during Winter 2000. The survey was structured around the ABET EC2000 a through k criterion. Our initial goals had been to focus on only three of the criterion as discussed in the Introduction. Students were asked to rank each question according to the following: 5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 = No comment, 2 = Disagree, 1 = Strongly Disagree. Each question was introduced with How well did this course: The results of the survey is shown in Table 2. Table 2. Results of EGR 101 Survey. Question prepare you to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering? help you design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data? teach you to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs? prepare you to function in a team environment? aid you in identifying, formulating, and solving engineering problems? help you to understand professional and ethical responsibility? prepare you to communicate effectively? prepare you to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global/societal context? allow you to recognize the need for lifelong learning? prepare you for a knowledge of contemporary issues? help you to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice? Mean/SD 4.2/0.5 4.5/0.6

These examples were used as illustrations for the students to gain an understanding of the types of designs to be incorporated. Although this is not an exhaustive list of the types of projects intended to be incorporated into the course, the goal of this project was to expose student teams to the design and manufacturing processes and tolerances needed to produce, at a minimum, two mating components of a product. Several student teams proposed prototype design concepts. These included variations on the above conceptual list and other concepts not presented. Two examples of student design innovations include a meshing gears exhibit and a CD storage case for use in an empty computer drive bay. The final as-built prototype designs are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

4.8/0.4 4.5/0.7 4.6/0.5 3.9/0.6 4.3/0.7 4.2/0.7 4.2/0.8 3.7/0.9 4.8/0.4

Figure 1. Prototype drive bay CD holder.

Figure 2. Meshing gear exhibit. 0-7803-6424-4/00/$10.00 2000 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2000 Kansas City, MO 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2G-10

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The two responses, which the students strongly agreed with, were the criteria we identified as goals for the restructured EGR 101 pilot course. These included the ability to design a component and/or system and the use of the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools needed for engineering practice. Each of these questions had a mean and standard deviation of 4.8 0.4. An additional area was left for students to make any comments concerning the course. Overwhelmingly, students expressed a great satisfaction with being able to not only design using computer-aided design tools, but also see their designs actually take shape. Another comment, which appeared several times, was that the students enjoyed the hands-on portions of the work because they c ould better relate the theoretical aspects of the course to real world experience. currently ongoing. In the lectures, we are developing a modular approach to the topics and creating more experiential learning exercises. We are also expanding our list of design projects, particularly for the five-week long final project. It is our goal that this approach will teach our students skills necessary to understand the cause and effect of their engineering designs from concept to full production.

REFERENCES
[1] Manufacturing Education Plan , Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, Michigan, 1997. [2] ABET EC2000 Criteria, ABET [3] Mechanical Engineering in the 21 st Century , ASME, Hudson Institute, 1999. [4] Barr, Ronald E., Developing the EDG Curriculum for the 21st Century: A Team Effort , Proceedings of the ASEE [5] Making the 2D-to-3D Transition: Rationales and Methodology , Autodesk white paper, Autodesk, Inc., San Rafael, California. [6] Condoor, Sridhar S., Integrating Design in Engineering Graphics Courses Using Feature-based, Parametric Solid Modeling , Proceedings of the 29 th A SEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1999. [7] Newcomer, Jeffrey L. et.al., Visualization, Freehand Drawing, Solid Modeling, and Design in Introductory Engineering Graphics , Proceedings of the 29 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1999. [8] Khan, Hamid, Integration of Robust 3D Modeling Software into the Design Curriculum, Proceedings of the 29 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1999.

CONCLUSIONS
This was a completely different approach to teaching students engineering design communications and graphics. Students were allowed to explore several open-ended design projects during their first semester of engineering school and produce physical realizations of their designs. Topical coverage between the existing course and the restructured course was the same, with the exception of the hands-on approach to the design process. Our plans are to integrate this approach across the engineering graphics courses at the Padnos School of Engineering beginning Fall semester 2000. Some additional refinement of the lecture outlines and design projects is

0-7803-6424-4/00/$10.00 2000 IEEE October 18 - 21, 2000 Kansas City, MO 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S2G-11