Multi-disciplinary approach in engineering education: learning with additive manufacturing and reverse engineering

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report an interdisciplinary, cooperative-learning project in a second-year course within the "Enzo Ferrari" Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. The work aims to raise awareness of the educational impact of additive manufacturing and reverse engineering. Design/methodology/approach - Students are asked to develop, concurrently, the design and the manufacturing solution for an eye-tracker head mount. A digital head model is reverse engineered from an anatomical mannequin and used as an ergonomic mock-up. The project includes prototype testing and cost analysis. The device is produced using additive manufacturing techniques for hands-on evaluation by the students. Findings - Results of the presented case study substantiate the authors' belief in the tremendous potential of interdisciplinary project-based learning, relying on innovative technologies to encourage collaboration, motivation and dynamism. Originality/value - The paper confirms a spreading conviction that the soon-to-be engineers will need new practice-oriented capabilities to cope with new competitive scenarios. Engineering education must adapt to the social, rather than industrial, revolution that is being brought about by additive fabrication

Demand And Supply: College Faculty’s Perceptions Of Computer Aided Design (cad) And Computer Aided Manufacture (cam) In Jewelry Design And Production

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research study was to explore perceptions of university faculty and jewelry industry professionals regarding the teaching of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) in a visual arts classroom. At the time of this study, there were mixed opinions about the teaching of CAD/CAM in the production of jewelry products, and there was limited literature available on this topic. With the use of CAD/CAM technologies, a jeweler emerges as potentially an artist and a design engineer who can apply creative and innovative principles to industrial design and manufacturing processes. Considering the impact of CAD/CAM on disciplines such as Engineering, Medicine, Industrial Designing, and Architecture, and the potential effect that CAD/CAM may have on visual arts, particularly on the production of jewelry, it is surprising how little research has been directed towards this area. This study examined how fine arts professors have been using CAD/CAM technology and traditional methods of design and fabrication of jewelry as a teaching aid in the pedagogy of jewelry training. The research findings showed a gap between art and design educational institutions and businesses in the jewelry design and manufacturing industry. CAD/CAM technology is a tool to aid jewelers and one of a number of means to an end. CAD/CAM has added an enhanced creative dimension to jewelry design and manufacturing and this inventive technology has allowed jewelry design and manufacturing to push beyond creative and innovative boundaries. This study shows that faculty members with knowledge in CAD/CAM are prepared to use the technology to teach jewelry design and manufacturing, but very few educational institutions had incorporated CAD/CAM into their teaching curricula at the time of this study. The jewelry design and manufacturing industry, on the other hand, has already been taking advantage of CAD/CAM technologies and has used these technologies to be competitive and also to maximize profit

Current challenges and opportunities in computation and simulation to align 4iR paradigm shift

With the advent of 4th Industrial Revolution (4iR or Industry 4.0), the current industry sector is highly automated to increased productivity, flexibility, and quality of products & services. The technology, machinery, materials, inputs, and approaches are radically transforming in the traditional manufacturing companies using several enabling technologies, tools, and systems in this digitization era. Industry 4.0 is the game changer to the end of the conventional applications where computation and simulation play a pivotal role in forecasting and evaluating methodically intractable systems' performance. In this paper, the authors describe the prominence of computation and simulation technology in this industrial transformation and analyze the current challenges and opportunities of computational simulation technologies and tools to uphold the effectiveness

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 19: Computer and information technology and aerospace knowledge diffusion

To remain a world leader in aerospace, the US must improve and maintain the professional competency of its engineers and scientists, increase the research and development (R&D) knowledge base, improve productivity, and maximize the integration of recent technological developments into the R&D process. How well these objectives are met, and at what cost, depends on a variety of factors, but largely on the ability of US aerospace engineers and scientists to acquire and process the results of federally funded R&D. The Federal Government's commitment to high speed computing and networking systems presupposes that computer and information technology will play a major role in the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. However, we know little about information technology needs, uses, and problems within the aerospace knowledge diffusion process. The use of computer and information technology by US aerospace engineers and scientists in academia, government, and industry is reported

Linking Technical Education to Business Growth: A Case Study on Building Technical Skills in India

Education has been recognized as the most important source of competitive advantage for a nation. It is the key determinant of firm level productivity which in turn drives business growth and profitability. Technical knowledge, in particular, is required both for industrial as well as service development. Technical institutions contribute to the growth of business and industry in a variety of ways. The most influential and direct impact is through their graduates who bring in new skills and perspectives to firms. Industries also seek advanced training on specific topics as well as consultancy from technical institutions. Often these institutions collaborate with academics to design and develop new technologies. In this paper we have argued that technical education plays a crucial role in building these capabilities and consequently in the growth of industry. We use the case study of the Indian technical education system to explore the nature of this system, mechanisms used to govern it, linkages between the education regime and the industry, and the roles that different stakeholders play in ensuring that such a regime delivers sustained advantage to the society. We study the business growth in a few select sectors and the changing needs of technical skills therein. These sectors are agricultural implements, auto-components, chemicals, construction, garments and machine tools. We also illustrate the link between technological innovation and technical skills thereby pointing towards the trajectory of developing industrial competitiveness.

Technology transfer from NASA to targeted industries, volume 2

This volume contains the following materials to support Volume 1: (1) Survey of Metal Fabrication Industry in Alabama; (2) Survey of Electronics Manufacturing/Assembly Industry in Alabama; (3) Apparel Modular Manufacturing Simulators; (4) Synopsis of a Stereolithography Project; (5) Transferring Modular Manufacturing Technology to an Apparel Firm; (6) Letters of Support; (7) Fact Sheets; (8) Publications; and (9) One Stop Access to NASA Technology Brochure

Rapid prototyping in early stages of architectural design

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1997.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59).This thesis shows how architects can use Rapid Prototyping and what the advantages and disadvantages are in different manipulations of the tool. Chapter two attempts to chart a road map of the rapid prototyping media. The data were drawn from a number of first hand experiments conducted by the author as well as by colleagues in MIT School of Architecture and Harvard Graduate School of Design, and in actual practice. The whole research lies on the boundary between virtual and real, on physical prototyping from a digital file. Digital prototyping and manual prototyping are mentioned only as references. The research offers examples of manipulations of the media and conclude that rapid prototyping in preliminary stages of design is most appropriate when used in what is defined as Direct CAD (Computer Aided Design) with Direct CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing). Furthermore, it identifies Semi -Direct CAD with Direct CAM as the manipulation most commonly used by architects. This manipulation is useful for presentation models but not very useful in early stages where ideas are less definite. This is the reason why rapid prototyping is generally considered inappropriate for early stages of architectural design. Instead of analyzing Rapid Prototyping technology this work concentrates on the process that involves Rapid Prototyping in new ways in design . It aims to stimulate the designer's imagination when thinking about three -dimensional design, design in motion and design at the interface between people and architecture, for example, chairs and kitchens. In this context Rapid Prototyping becomes merely a vehicle by which the architect explores the design process. Rapid Prototyping is proposed as a media to escape the limitation imposed by flat screen representation in what is defined as true three dimensional digital design. This technology was invented in engineering to increase design and manufacturing process performances.by Alvise Simondetti.M.S

The potential of additive manufacturing in the smart factory industrial 4.0: A review

Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing has introduced a novel production method in design, manufacturing, and distribution to end-users. This technology has provided great freedom in design for creating complex components, highly customizable products, and efficient waste minimization. The last industrial revolution, namely industry 4.0, employs the integration of smart manufacturing systems and developed information technologies. Accordingly, AM plays a principal role in industry 4.0 thanks to numerous benefits, such as time and material saving, rapid prototyping, high efficiency, and decentralized production methods. This review paper is to organize a comprehensive study on AM technology and present the latest achievements and industrial applications. Besides that, this paper investigates the sustainability dimensions of the AM process and the added values in economic, social, and environment sections. Finally, the paper concludes by pointing out the future trend of AM in technology, applications, and materials aspects that have the potential to come up with new ideas for the future of AM explorations

Break, Make, Retake: Interrogating the Social and Historical Dimensions of Making as a Design Practice

Making and digital fabrication technologies are the focus of bold promises. Among the most tempting are that these activities and processes require little initial skill, knowledge, and expertise. Instead, they enable their acquisition, opening them up to everyone. Makerspaces and fab labs would blur the identities between professional and amateur, designer and engineer, maker and hacker, ushering in a broad-based de-professionalization. Prototyping and digital fabrication would unite design and manufacturing in ways that resemble and revive traditional craftwork. These activities and processes promise the reindustrialization of places where manufacturing has disappeared. These promises deploy historical categories and conditionsexpertise, design, craft production, manufacturing, post- industrial urbanismwhile claiming to transform them. This dissertation demonstrates how these proposals and narratives rely on imaginaries in which countercultural practices become mainstream by presenting a threefold argument. First, making and digital fabrication sustain supportive environments that reconfigure contemporary design practice. Second, making and digital fabrication simultaneously reshape the categories of professional, amateur, work, leisure, and expertise; but not always in the ways its proponents suggest. Third, as making and digital fabrication propagate, they reproduce traditional practices and values, negating much of their countercultural and alternative capacities. The dissertation supports these claims through a multi-sited and multinational ethnographic investigation of the historical and social effects of making and digital fabrication on design practice and the people and places enacting. The study lies at the intersection of science and technology studies, human-computer interaction, and design research. In addressing the argument throughout this scholarship, it explores three central themes: (1) the idea that making and digital fabrication lead to instant materialization of design while re-uniting design with manufacturing; (2) the amount of skill and expertise expected for participation in these practices and how these are encoded in rhetoric and in practice; and (3) the material and social infrastructures that configure making as a design practice. The dissertation demonstrates that that the perceived marginality of making, maker cultures, digital fabrication allows for its bolder promises to thrive invisibly by concealing other social issues, while the societal contributions of this technoculture say something different on the surface