MEC119   Design Skills   (10 credits)

Description

The course aims to provide an introduction to engineering design and material selection so as to avoid component failure. The approach taken is a product dissection through which the students gain hands-on experience of an engineering artefact/product, tightly integrated with a lecture course on engineering design and materials. Students perform a functional analysis of all parts of their artefact (selected from items such as a micro-scooter, an electric drill or similar). Supported by the lecture material and following an introduction to the Cambridge Engineering Materials Selector software (CES EduPack), the students learn how to make the assumptions needed to conduct a simple analysis of potential failure through tension/compression and bending loads which their artefact would experience in use. Environmental considerations for the materials used are included, and the severity of failure is assessed using a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. The course concludes with preparation of a report on the material selection for a component of their item, and a brief presentation on how the item could fail and how to avoid this. Practical work is assessed on a group basis, while individual learning is assessed by exam and online quizzes.

Reading List