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Development of a Solid Modeling Course for Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) Students Abstract

This paper is a collaborative effort between a faculty member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) department and a faculty member of the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) department at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

For years, ECET students at Penn State Behrend were instructed on how to create schematic or conceptualization and visualization skills were minimally exercised throughout the course and therefore students lacked the ability to understand or communicate 3D components or assemblies. Electrical and Computer Engineering Technologists are responsible for working with Mechanical Engineers and Mechanical Engineering Technologists to perform applied design of electronic packaging, electro- mechanical parts and assemblies, as well as operator controls and indicators. Therefore it is of the utmost importance to understand and be able to convey shape, size and assembly descriptions of those parts or assemblies. The ability of increased knowledge of solid modeling has become crucial to the success of ECET students.

The new Solid Modeling course exposes ECET students to creating 3D models, creating 2D drawings of components, and 3D assemblies.

This paper will discuss the development of a solid modeling course for ECET students. It will include the following information: discussion on the need for the course (i.e. driving factors), course objectives, course content, and comments about the course.

Background and Desired Outcomes of the Course

The development of the course started with meetings between the MET and ECET department representatives (i.e. the authors of this paper) discussing the desired outcomes of the course. We had to totally abandon the old paradigm of previous drafting courses. The last two course models included mechanical drafting and using AutoCAD, respectively. Mechanical drafting has been abandoned and the AutoCAD based course served its purpose well; however, lacked the as well as the graphical communication . Also, the courses were strongly based around schematic and wiring diagrams.

Mechanical drafting is outdated and time consuming. For these reasons, it has been abandoned by industry so the switch was made to drafting/solid modeling software based courses. Drafting/solid modeling software based courses are more technologically advanced and more comparable to industry standards1. This is similar to having students abandon the slide rule and switch to the calculator or personal computer as the industry standard.

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Nitterright, F., & Krahe, R. (2009, June), Development Of A Solid Modeling Course For Electrical And Computer Engineering Technology (Ecet) Students Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--4726