Albuquerque, New Mexico
June 24, 2001
June 24, 2001
June 27, 2001
2153-5965
10
6.694.1 - 6.694.10
10.18260/1-2--9524
https://peer.asee.org/9524
472
Session 1566
Local Industry Involvement in the Support of Capstone Design Projects
Hosni I. Abu-Mulaweh, Nashwan T. Younis Department of Engineering Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA
Abstract
This paper discusses why the involvement of the local industry and its sponsoring of senior design projects is crucial to the students to be exposed to quality and real life design problems. Also, examples of some of the projects that the local industry has supported will be presented.
I. Introduction
The students in the mechanical engineering program at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne are required to complete a capstone senior design project. This is carried out during the two semesters of the senior year. In the first semester, basic conceptual designs are generated and then evaluated. The best conceptual design is then chosen and a complete and detailed design is generated by the end of the first semester. In the second semester, a proto- type of the finished design is built, tested and evaluated. The projects are either in the solid or thermal areas of the mechanical engineering.
Whenever it is possible, the students are exposed to real life design problem experience by getting them involved and work on design projects provided and supported by the local industry. Types of the design projects that the local industry is interested in include: completely new design to perform specific task(s), modify or improve existing design, and solving problems in some industrial operations.
II. The Need for the Local Industry Involvement
The cost of constructing a prototype of the finished design is usually high. This is especially the case when the projects involve real life problems. For small undergraduate mechanical engineering programs with limited resources, such as ours, the high cost of building these projects tends to hamper the selection of quality capstone senior design projects. For example,
Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2001, American Society for Engineering Education
Abu-Mulaweh, H., & Younis, N. (2001, June), Local Industry Involvement In The Support Of Capstone Design Projects Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9524
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