Attitudes Toward Failure in Capstone Design Projects

While working in industry during the 1980s and 1990s, project failures were to be avoided at all costs. For engineers in the medical device industry, these failures could be in the form of: 1) an idea for a new product or feature that eventually failed due to technical infeasibility, regulatory hurdles, lack of market interest, or difficulty in manufacturing; 2) a prototype that did not function as required; or 3) an animal or human clinical study that yielded poor results. They typically resulted in significant project delays, wasted time and money, and lost revenues, and often led to lower raises, fewer promotion opportunities, and damaged reputations

Entrepreneurship in Capstone Design: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?

The author supports entrepreneurial education for all interested students, but not at the expense of design education. He thinks we should develop business literacy among all of our students to prepare them for work in start-ups and established medical device companies, and provide opportunities for interested students to add entrepreneurial literacy to better prepare them to create new companies, either upon graduation or later in their careers. Capstone design courses should focus on helping students develop solid design skills and providing opportunities to apply the analytical tools learned in previous courses. Students should be encouraged, not required, to consider commercializing the results of their capstone projects, and interested students should be provided with support for doing so

Will the Real Designer Please Stand Up? [Senior Design]

In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a popular television show called To Tell the Truth, on which three contestants claimed to be a person with an unusual occupation or distinction. Two of them were impostors, and the other was telling the truth. Four panelists asked the contestants questions to determine who was being truthful. After each panelist chose the contestant he or she thought was telling the truth, the host would ask Will the real _____ please stand up? To create drama, each contestant would rise at different times and then sit, leaving the contestant with the unusual occupation or distinction standing

Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing for Global Innovation (Conference proceeding)

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students from Marquette University and Smith College. This paper describes our experience with managing two virtual capstone design project teams across institutions. Presented here are the challenges we encountered, the lessons we learned as a result of this experience, as well our recommendations for others who might want to include virtual project teams in their capstone design courses. We also include retrospective feedback from the students on these teams regarding their perceived value of their virtual team experience to their careers in engineering

Lessons Learned from a 10-Year Collaboration Between Biomedical Engineering and Industrial Design Students in Capstone Design Projects

Engineers and industrial designers have different approaches to problem solving. Both place heavy emphasis on identification of customer needs, manufacturing methods, and prototyping. Industrial designers focus on aesthetics, ergonomics, ease of use, manufacturing methods, and the user’s experience. They tend to be more visual and more concerned with the interaction between users and products. Engineers focus on functionality, performance requirements, analytical modeling, and design verification and validation. They tend to be more analytical and more concerned with the design of internal components and product performance. Engineers and industrial designers often work together on project teams in industry. Collaboration between the two groups on senior capstone design projects can teach each to respect and value the unique contributions each brings to the project team, result in improved design solutions, and help prepare students for future collaboration in industry. Student feedback and lessons learned by faculty and students from a ten-year collaboration between engineering and industrial design students from Marquette University and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, respectively, are presented. Students learned to communicate with people in other disciplines, appreciate the complementary skills of each discipline, and value different approaches to problem solving

Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing for Global Innovation (Journal article)

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students from Marquette University and Smith College. This paper describes our experience with managing two virtual capstone design project teams across institutions. Presented here are the challenges we encountered, the lessons we learned as a result of this experience, as well our recommendations for others who might want to include virtual project teams in their capstone design courses. We also include retrospective feedback from the students on these teams regarding their perceived value of their virtual team experience to their careers in engineering

Lessons Learned from a 10-Year Collaboration between Engineering and Industrial Design Students in Capstone Design Projects

Engineers and industrial designers have different approaches to problem solving. Both place heavy emphasis on identification of customer needs, manufacturing methods, and prototyping. Industrial designers focus on aesthetics, ergonomics, ease of use, and the user’s experience. They tend to be more visual and more concerned with the interaction between users and products. Engineers focus on functionality, performance requirements, analytical modeling, and design verification and validation. They tend to be more analytical and more concerned with the design of internal components and product performance. Engineers and industrial designers often work together on project teams in industry. Collaboration between the two groups on senior capstone design projects can teach each to respect and value the unique contributions each brings to the project team, result in improved design solutions, and help prepare students for future collaboration in industry. Student feedback and lessons learned by faculty and students from a ten-year collaboration between engineering and industrial design students from Marquette University and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, respectively, are presented. Students learned to communicate with people in other disciplines, appreciate the complementary skills of each discipline, and value different approaches to problem solving

A Student-Centered Learning Approach to Design for Manufacturability: Meeting the Needs of an Often- Forgotten Customer

A hands-on learning module was implemented at Marquette University in 2012 to teach biomedical engineering students about basic manufacturing processes, lean manufacturing principles, and design for manufacturability. It incorporates active and student-centered learning as part of in-class assembly line simulations. Since then, it has evolved from three class periods to five. The module begins with two classroom presentations on manufacturing operations and electronics design, assembly, and testing. Students then participate in an in-class assembly line simulation exercise where they build and test an actual product per written work instructions. They reflect on this experience and suggest design and process changes to improve the assembly line process and quality, save time, and reduce cost and waste. At the end of the module students implement their suggested design and process improvements and repeat the exercise to determine the impact of their improvements. They learn of the importance of Design for Manufacturability, well-written work instructions, process design, and designing a product not only for the end user, but also for the assemblers and inspectors. Details of the module, and its implementation and assessment are presented along with student feedback and faculty observations