Senior Design Projects in Mechanical Engineering –
Active Involvement of Industry Partners and
Advisory Council
C. Luongo(1), C. Shih(1), J.W. Sturges(2), D.C. Bogles(2) , and R.A. Wright(2)
(1) Professors
Department of Mechanical Engineering
FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Tallahassee, Florida
(2) Engineering Directors
Lockheed-Martin Corporation
Contact
E-mail: luongo@magnet.fsu.edu
Phone: (850)-644-1095
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
1
Undergraduate Program Overview
• Mechanical Engineering Web site
– www.eng.fsu.edu/me
• Program Flowchart/Advising
• Curriculum Structure
• Senior Capstone Design
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
2
Integrated Curriculum
• Capstone design
and eng. design
methods run
concurrently during
senior year, design is
otherwise taught in
Intro. to ME and
embedded in
curriculum
• Department has
about 325
undergraduate
students with a
declared ME major,
and graduates ~ 6070 BSME per year
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
3
Increase in Class Size and
Industrial Sponsorships
Academic
Year
Student
Enrollment
Number of
Projects
Avg. Number of
Students per Team
99-00
00-01
01-02
02-03
03-04
04-05
05-06
06-07
56
40
56
46
47
60
65
52
17
12
18
13
13
15
16
14
3.3
3.3
3.1
3.5
3.6
4.0
4.1
3.7
Fraction of IndustrySponsored Projects
12% (2/17)
25% (3/12)
44% (8/18)
54% (7/13)
54% (7/13)
80% (12/15)
88% (14/16)
86% (12/14)
Growth - Projected Class Sizes 07-08: 90 , 08-09: ~ 100
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
5
Project Descriptions
A wide variety of student projects spanning the
entire spectrum of mechanical engineering practice
(shared in design reviews for class exposure)
• Elgin/AFRL - Autonomous lawnmower
• Elgin/AFRL - Fuel injection system
• Elgin/AFRL - Dynamic tensile test unit
• Elgin/AFRL - Human Parasail System
• Micro-hydro power generation
• Submersible robot for underwater cave exploration
(Woodsville Karst Plain Project)
• ASME human-powered vehicle
• Lockheed – Combat vehicle IED simulator
• Lockheed – Projector stabilizer mount
• Cummins – Crankshaft fatigue tester
• Cummins – Rotating/bending tensile tester
• Shell - Tri-generation system (international
collaboration with Brazil Parana U)
• CERN - Shaft balancing (international collaboration
with Romania, Budapest U)
• Talla-Tech - Immersion tank
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
6
Design Review and Open House
• One-day senior capstone design
review mini-symposium
– Early April
– Oral presentations for all
teams
– Hardware showcase and
poster session
– Dinner and award
announcement in the evening
– followed by the two-day
MEAC spring meeting and
ME annual assessment
meeting
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
7
Open House (cont’d)
• Done “early” to allow project completion prior to finals/graduation rush
• Motivation for students to showcase project results
• Invitation to all sponsors and industrial advisory board members
– Panel of “judges” (all from industrial sponsors and MEAC members)
– Best-in-category awards (certificates)
– Overall program review by advisory board (ABET assessment loop)
• Advisory Council meeting scheduled to immediately follow senior design open
house
• Opportunity for underclassmen to observe senior projects (college-wide)
• Follow-up with feedback requests
– Sponsors/MEAC
– Senior exit interviews
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
8
Project Harvesting/Sponsors
• Effort through summer to harvest enough projects
–
–
–
–
–
Industrial partners in advisory board (35 out of 71 since 03-07)
Local companies
Course alumni
Faculty contacts
Professional organizations design competitions
• Consistent sponsors:
– AFRL at Eglin AFB (17), Lockheed-Martin (Orlando, Huntsville,
etc., 8), Cummins Engines (6), Sandia National Lab (4), Boeing,
Shell Oil, Talla-Tech
• Other strong sponsors:
– Rancho Suspension, Growth Innovations, National High Magnetic
Field Laboratory (FSU), Center for Advanced Power Systems (FSU)
– Variety of small local businesses and individuals
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
9
Industrial Participation (Flowchart)
Project Definition
(Kickoff)
Project Follow-up
(throughout year)
Final Project Review
(Judging)
Summer
(Project harvesting)
Fall Semester
(Design)
Spring Semester
(Implementation)
Feedback to sponsors
(project harvesting
and selection)
Open House
(Final review)
MEAC review
Feedback to ME
Dept. (ABET cycle)
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
10
Industrial/MEAC Involvement –
• Projects come from industry as part of a broader relationship,
not just as senior projects
– Potential recruitment, advisory board involvement, interest on some
research areas, sustainable involvement, etc.
– Need a “champion” at a higher level, also need people in the
“trenches” with a genuine interest in working with students and act as
“customer/mentor”
• Projects need to be selected carefully for scope and difficulty
(enough resources, etc.)
• Direct involvement of industrial partners and MEAC has
resulted in improvements through assessment/feedback
– A specific example will be given
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
11
Evolution of Capstone Design Curriculum
Intro. to
ME
• Embedded Model (1999-2003)
EDM
–
Capstone-1
EDM
Capstone-2
Intro. to
ME
Capstone-1
EDM
Capstone-2
Proposed new model
4+4 units (Fall/Spring of senior year)
– Combined lectures, Engineering Design
Methods (EDM) and concurrent year-long
projects
– Problems: Lecture material too late for
project, project delay, combined grading
encouraged students to concentrate on
coursework in detriment of projects
• Just-in-time model (2003-date)
– 3+3+3 units (Fall/Fall/Spring of senior year)
– Separate Engineering Design Method
(EDM) class from the Capstone project class
– Problems: Lecture material still too late for
projects; students not practicing formal
design process in core courses
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
12
Proposed New Model – Design Integration
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
• First exposure of
engineering processes
1st Year Engineering Lab
ME Tools
Introduction to ME
Engineering Design Methods
EDM
Capstone-1
Capstone-2
• ME as a profession
• Design process
• CAD, tool sets,
machine shop practice
• Product design cycle
• Engineering economics
• Statistics, reliability,
optimization
• Implementation
“design practice” in
junior-level core courses
• two-semester capstone
project design/realization
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
13
Proposed Modules in EDM
Design Process:
Design for “X” (DFX):
• Product design cycle
• Project management
• Manufacturing/assembly
• Reliability (statistics)
Engineering Economy
Modeling & Optimization:
• Economic principle
• Cost analysis
• System engineering
• Design trade space
• System optimization
• Other components: legal, ethical, environmental, societal issues, team
work, communication
• Guest lectures by MEAC members and other engineering professionals
• Coordinate with junior-level core courses to implement formal design
practice in project realization
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
14
The Challenges Ahead
• Continue to expand circle of industrial partners to keep up
with program growth
• Streamline the process for project harvesting and
management/mentoring
• Expand college-wide to allow for multi-disciplinary teams
and projects
• Expand international collaborations to expose students to
engineering in a global economy (ongoing)
• Fully integrating the design process with the core curriculum;
both vertically and horizontally
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
15
Conclusions
• Well established capstone design course at the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of
Engineering
– 8 years running, strong industrial participation, including high rate of
returning customers
• Industry participation is an important part of making capstone
experience “realistic”
• ME Advisory Council has been instrumental in increasing
industrial participation in capstone projects and help us close
an annual ABET assessment cycle that includes the senior
project open house
• Partnering with industry has been beneficial for all involved
as evidenced by its self-sustainability
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
16
Engineer of 2020
•
The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century &
Educating The Engineer of 2020 (published by the National Academy of
Engineering, www.nae.edu)
• Desired Attributes
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Strong analytical skills
Practical ingenuity
Creative/innovative
Good communication skills
Master business & management principles
Leadership quality
High ethical standards/professionalism
Dynamic, agile, resilient, and flexible
Lifelong learners
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
17
Re-engineer the Engineering Education System – Some Interesting
Proposals/Observations
• BS in engineering  Pre-engineering degree for entry-level engineer
position
• New Liberal arts degree in the 21st century (springboard for other careers)
• Professional “Master” degree program (modeled after law, medicine,
pharmacy degrees)
• Emphasis on the first-year engineering curriculum – design, team-based,
hands-on activities
• The Global Engineer – challenges and opportunities from national and
international levels; need skills to be globally competitive
2007 ASEE Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii, June 24-27, 2007
18