Digital Fabrication for Product Design. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: ID 216 or departmental approval. This course introduces the tools, techniques, and theory of digital fabrication as they apply to industrial design practice. Students will gain hands-on experience with laser cutting, additive manufacturing (3D printing), and subtractive manufacturing (CNC routing and milling) while developing the critical understanding needed to select the appropriate process for a given design problem. Emphasis is placed on the principles that govern each technology - such as material behavior, dimensional tolerances, joint design, and process constraints - rather than on any single software platform. Through a series of focused projects, students will progress from operating individual machines to integrating multiple fabrication methods into a single product prototype.