Product Realization

Catalog description

This course provides students with practical experience in the product design and development process. Computer aided design and a variety of related analytical tools are employed in team-oriented design activities, as well as defined in-class team interactions. Team progress will be monitored through weekly team check-ins, during which two project status communication tools will be reviewed an updated Gantt Chart and a Weekly Project Activity Plan document. The hands-on design activities will culminate in the presentation and demonstration of a functioning engineering system. In working toward this goal, students will employ several industry-standard product design tools and techniques. In addition to Gantt charts for project management, they will employ formal ideation techniques, such as '6-3-5 Brainwriting' and Mind Maps. Conceptual designs will be communicated through morphological charts, preceding the process of reconciling conflicting Customer Needs via deterministic engineering design techniques. They will utilize the House of Quality to implement Quality Function Deployment. The hands-on aspect of the course will utilize programmable manufacturing equipment, both one additive manufacturing technique (3D printing) and three subtractive manufacturing techniques (CNC milling, water-jet, and laser cutting). Design Verification Testing will be conducted in the context of design-build-test iterations of their functional engineering prototype.