Central Connecticut State University
School of Technology
Mechanical Engineering
1615 Stanley Street New Britain CT
Course Title: Senior Project Research
Course Number: ME 497
Credits: 2
Time:
Room:
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Phone:
E-Mail:
Semester: Fall 20XX
Prerequisites: Mechanical Engineering senior standing
Information on class cancellation: 832-3333
Course Description:
First of a two course design sequence. Students work in teams in an environment appropriate to
an industrial setting. Teams propose and begin development of designs. Teamwork and oral and
written communication skills emphasized..
Learning Outcomes:
 Ability to develop design concepts using engineering principles learned from prior Mechanical
Engineering courses.
 Ability to design a system, component or process to meet desired needs.
 Ability to test and evaluate design concepts.
 Ability to communicate effectively in oral, written, visual and graphic modes.
 Understanding of professionalism and ethics and associated responsibilities.
Course Objective (Basic):
To apply Mechanical Engineering course work towards accomplishing the goals of the
research, develop several concepts to solve an open ended engineering problem. For example a project
involving product development should involve the implementation of the techniques covered in ME
216, and ME 345 for manufacturing, ENGR 251, ENGR 252, ENGR 257, ME 354, ME 367 and ME
370 for design analysis and ET260 to produce the assembly and detail drawings. In addition the
research must be in the students specialized area and application of the courses listed in the specialized
area, Mechanical Design, Manufacturing or Aerospace, must be demonstrated.
Requirements for all 400 level courses used to obtain Graduate Credit:
All students seeking graduate credit for this class must complete additional work. Please make
an appointment within the first two weeks of class to determine appropriate work for this requirement.
The graduate study student will not receive a grade for this class until the work is complete.
Text: Technical publications, industry and faculty consultation
References: Library reference books and journals.
J. E. Shigley and C. R. Mischke, Mechanical Engineering
Design, McGraw Hill, Inc, NY (1989)
ME 497 Mechanical Engineering Senior Project Research
Course Title: Senior Project Research
Course Number: ME 497
K. S. Edwards and R. B. Mckee, Fundamentals of Mechanical
Component Design, McGraw Hill, Inc, NY (1991)
M.F. Spotts, Design of Machine Elements, 6th Edition, Prentice
Hall, NJ (1985)
R. C. Juvinall and K. M. Marshek, Fundamentals of Machine
Design, John Wiley & Sons, NY (1991)
R. L. Norton, Machine Design An Integrated Approach, Prentice
Hall, NJ (1996)
Power Transmission Distributors Association 1993, Power Transmission
Hand Book, Penton Custom Publishing Group, Cleveland, Ohio.
Course Outline:
Library Search:
Obtain books, course, notes, articles and information closely related to project. Review course
notes and methodologies related to project.
Outline:
Develop a proposal outline covering the scope and time line of project. Outline shall be a
minimum of one page with title, authors, abstract (description of project, problem), introduction
(background on area project is involved with), conclusion (description on what will be done, how
problem will be solved). Format to be provided at a later date.
Model Development
Develop a theoretical, computational and if possible prototype models of several design
concepts or engineering problem solution strategies.
Model Testing
Expose all models to the same structural requirements to ensure agreement of results. Example,
theory calculations, computational model, experimental model, all results should correlate and proved
a clear understating of the structural behavior.
Research Report Write Up, Presentation Preparation
Document research procedure, development, evaluation and analysis process.
Bi Weekly Progress Reports: Bi Weekly progress reports shall be e-mailed to the instructor. The
report shall be 1 half page in length. (See attached for format)
ME 497 Mechanical Engineering Senior Project Research
Course Title: Senior Project Research
EVALUATION
Course Number: ME 497
Task
Bi Weekly Progress reports
Three page report
Final Report
Presentation
% of Final Grade
20%
30%
30%
20%
Required formats to be provide at a later date:
Notes
 The requirements of the summary and final reports will be provided at a later date.
 The amount of information and methods covered with-in the Mechanical Engineering program.
courses applied to the project will have a considerable positive influence on the grading.
 Groups will be required to provide a three page summary report available to faculty, students
and staff day of presentation.
 Summary report shall cover, design concepts, engineering problem solutions, evaluation
process, ranking criteria and final design concept, solution strategy.
Special Needs:
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability. If you have emergency
medical information to share with the instructor, or if you have special arrangements in case the
building must be evacuated, please make an appointment and contact the instructor as soon as possible.
ME 497 Mechanical Engineering Senior Project Research