Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3225

The RP Derby: A Design/Build/Test Experience for High School Students

Joseph C. Musto, W. Ed Howard, Stephen Rather Mechanical Engineering Department 1025 N. Broadway Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI 53202-3109

Abstract

This paper details a weeklong summer session held on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) campus for high school students. The design experience, called the Rapid Prototyping (RP) Derby, was modeled after the pine car race competitions held by civic organizations; however, it made use of solid modeling and rapid prototyping tools available on campus to allow the students to design, visualize, fabricate, and test their scale model vehicles. Students were initially led through a solid modeling exercise, employing the SolidWorks software package. With faculty assistance, the students were then encouraged to design their own scale model car body, within size constraints. After completing their vehicle design, the car bodies designed by the students were built using Laminated Object Modeling (LOM), a rapid prototyping technology. After receiving the parts from the LOM, the students performed finishing, final assembly, and decoration of their model cars. The testing phase included both wind tunnel testing of scale model vehicles and a race competition.

The design/build/test activities were augmented with theoretical topics related to the design of vehicles; applications of ergonomics, materials engineering, and aerodynamics in vehicle design were discussed. This balance of hands-on design/build/test activities and the exposure to topics in engineering science provided the students with a broad exposure to the field of mechanical engineering. It was well received by the participants, and will be used as a model for future programs at MSOE.

I Introduction

Each summer, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) hosts a series of one week summer sessions for high school students. The sessions are divided into two different programs: a general engineering program entitled Discover the Possibilities, and a discipline-specific program entitled Focus on the Possibilities. In the Discover the Possibilities program, students rotate daily through the various branches of engineering, receiving lectures and hands-on laboratory experiences in Architectural Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Networking. It is intended to stimulate interest in the engineering profession, provide a means to discern between the various branches of engineering, and motivate interest in MSOE. In the Focus on the Possibilities program, students select an

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Howard, W. E., & Rather, S., & Musto, J. C. (2000, June), The Rp Derby: A Design/Build/Test Experience For High School Students Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8680