ME 213: Introduction to Engineering Design is an interesting class offered by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The goal of the course is to learn the design process and associated skills (teamwork, communication, and computing), to recognize the role of fundamentals in design and problem solving, and to be exposed to different examples of engineering (projects, disciplines, and careers). Learning through hands on and open ended projects are emphasized.
Instructor: Reza Ghorbani, Mechanical Engineering
Office: Holmes 201
Phone: 808-956-2292
Email: Rezag@hawaii.edu
Teaching Assistant: Michael Wolfe, Mechanical Engineering
Office: Holmes 374
Cell: 918 327 8807
Email: mwolfe7@hawaii.edu
Suggested Textbook: Fundamentals of Graphics Communication, 5th
Ed., Bertoline and Wiebe
Suggested Software: SolidWorks
Prerequisite: None, Just be open-minded, willing to work in groups, and open to be creative.
Exams and quizzes: None! The grade is based on the assignments, quality of engineering projects and on the quality of the written, oral, and graphical communication of design presentations. Extra time involvement for the projects is required. Feedback from teammates at the end of the semester has significant effect on the final grade.
What will I do in ME 213?
Lectures and Labs: The class will be divided into a lecture
and lab sessions, both held in POST 214.
Lectures will be used to highlight key points regarding course
materials. Part of the lecture sessions will be used for term projects. The
homework assigned will be based on these lectures, thus attendance is highly
advised! The lab sessions will be used
to introduce computer-aided design and work on group assignments. This time may
also be used to work on the design projects.
The lectures are designed to introduce the software, technical topics, and design projects. About two class hours a week will be devoted to Computer Aided Drawing.
Your final grade will depend on the percentage of the total possible points earned. The resulting percentage will be assigned a letter grade as follows:
A: 90 - 100% B: 80 - 89% C: 70 - 79% D: 60 - 69% F: 0 - 59%
NOTE:
+/- Suffixes will be Assigned as Follows: +: x7% - x9% - : x0% - x2%
Design Projects: In an effort to help you understand the
engineering design process, you will be required to work on two design term projects
and several in class projects assigned during the semester. The term projects
will require conceptualization, designing, fabrication, and testing as an engineering
team. The term projects should be done by actively communicating and
collaborating with your team members. You will use the engineering design
process to develop and complete the assigned projects. No late work regarding the design project
will be accepted. In addition, a short
oral presentation and a poster will accompany each term project. Details will
be given upon assignment of each project. Most of the projects are open ended.
Term Project 1: Rube Goldberg Machine
Teams of 5 students design, construct, and test a series of simple machines which act in a chain reaction to accomplish a simple task. Machine should be creative and appealing.
Term Project 2: Alternative Energy Device
This semester, team of 5 students design and construct a working model of a wave power generator. The students are free to use recycling materials to construct the wave turbine and will have approximately 6 weeks of implementation. The design sketches, blueprints and 3D model are required. The model wave turbine will need to be solidly constructed and able to generate electrical power, which will be measured. Model wave turbines will be judged in three categories: (a) design and presentation; (b) construction; and (c) power generating capacity. Each wave turbine design and construction will be judged by a panel of expert judges.
Important Dates: Project due dates will be established as the semester progresses, and will typically be one week after notice is given. It is the student’s responsibility to get the projects done as early as possible. Remember, the CAD lab will be crowded, so if you wait till the last minute, you may have trouble getting at a workstation. Late drawings will be accepted with a 50% point penalty. Sometimes you have to come into class outside the regular class hours to finish your projects (This is fair since you have less, easier homework comparing to the regular classes)
Tentative syllabus for ME 213
|
Tuesday |
Thursday |
Jan
13
Course introduction, team shaping, log
books |
Jan 15
Team meeting, Solidworks introduction |
|
Jan
20 Rube Goldberg: introduction
Wind turbine project: introduction |
Jan 22 CAD practice
|
Jan
27
Rube Goldberg: brainstorm
and practice Wind turbine project: measurement |
Jan 29
CAD practice |
Feb
3
Rube Goldberg: energy, prototype design Wind turbine project: data analysis |
Feb 5
CAD practice,
CAD project intro. |
Feb
10 (workshop safety class)
Rube Goldberg:
design & construction
Robot leg design |
Feb 12
CAD practice |
Feb
17
Rube Goldberg: prototype
testing Robot
leg design |
Feb 19
CAD
practice |
Feb
24 (No Class)
Final
tuning and poster preparation |
Feb 26
CAD practice |
March
3
Rube Goldberg
Competition |
March
5 CAD practice |
|
March 10 Motor, generator, sensors |
March
12 CAD practice |
March
17
Wave
energy introduction |
March
19 CAD practice, CAD project due |
|
March 24 NO
Class: Spring Recess |
March 26 |
|
March 31 Wave energy brainstorming, note
taking |
April 2 CAD practice on wave energy project |
|
April 7 Wave energy design |
April 9 CAD practice on wave energy project |
|
April 14 Wave energy detail design |
April 16 CAD practice on wave energy project |
|
April 21 Wave energy construction (workshop open) |
April 23 CAD practice on wave energy project |
|
April 28 Wave energy construction (workshop open) |
April
30 Wave energy test |
|
May 5 Wave Energy Competition Final Report Due on May 7 |
|
The following table shows the percentage effects of each project in the final mark:
|
|
Percent |
|
CAD |
20 |
|
Rube Goldberg |
20 |
|
Class assignments |
10 |
|
Wave turbine |
30 |
|
Final report |
20 |
Projects may include part or all of the following items: design, development, test and measurement, poster and oral presentation.