ME 490 – Mechanical Engineering Design II (3 Credit Hours)

Course Description: Semester-long internship in which three or four-person teams serve as consultants to an industrial client. Emphasis is on conducting a professional design study and preparing written and oral presentations of the project results.

Course Instructors: This course is typically taught by the following instructors:

• Mr. Allan Powers
• Dr. Steve Kavanaugh
• Dr. Beth Todd
• Dr. Joey Parker

Sample Syllabus: A sample syllabus indicative of that typically used in the course can be found here.

Pre-Requisite Skills: Students entering this course are expected to have mastered the following skills:

• ME 489 - Mechanical Engineering Design I
• Engineering economics
• Experience with project teams
• Fundamentals of information gathering techniques from professional societies, manufacturers, non-engineering trades.
• Communication with project clients and evaluation by technical and non-technical personnel.
• Elements of effective oral presentations

Course Objectives: Students who successfully complete this course are expected to use the engineering design process to complete a semester-long, team-based design project, typically for a corporate client. This requires the student to:

• Identify the client’s problem or fundamental needs (c,f)
• Recognize client’s constraints (economics, time, personnel, space, code/regulations) (c,f )
• Conduct professional information and literature gathering searches pertinent to the client’s project (i,j)
• Know the primary professional organizations that provide information, standards, research, development and continuing education (i,j )
• Prepare a proposal for the industrial client to include a background discussion, problem statement, objective, summary of constraints, plan of action, evaluation techniques, and timetable (g)
• Prepare project progress memoranda (g)
• Participate in team meetings to coordinate and delegate tasks (d)
• Design multiple solutions to the design problem and identify the one best suited to the client’s needs (c,e,k)
• Communicate in an effective manner with technical personnel (such as trades people) (d,g)
• Communicate with support staff in order to complete project within the established guidelines of the university and client’s business (d,g)
• Communicate to the project supervisor that project goals and timetables are being followed (d,g)
• Prepare and present oral progress reports with modern audio visual aids (g)
• Review evaluations from peers and supervisors and adjust approach to project and presentation style to meet project goals
• Prepare written and oral preliminary final reports that demonstrates project goals have been accomplished within the client’s established constraints (g)
• Present preliminary final report to faculty jury (g)
• Complete recommended changes, unmet project goals, and presentation formats suggested by faculty jury (g)
• Submit final written report to client with adequate time to review before oral presentation (g)
• Present final oral presentation to client (g)
• Complete recommended changes and unmet client goals if necessary (f,o)

Sample Examinations: Students are graded based on progress reports, faculty advisor evaluation of progress, peer evaluation, faculty jury for preliminary final presentation, and client evaluation of final presentations (written and oral). Example evaluations are appended.

Downstream Users: This course is a terminal course- no downstream courses.