The primary objectives of this project are to promote students' interest in manufacturing engineering at an early stage in the engineering curriculum, and to increase the retention rate of engineering majors. Two sophomore-level courses in design and manufacturing are being developed. These courses provide an integrated body of knowledge designed around the manufacture of a product. Once the courses are developed, they will be implemented in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Program at Oregon State University. Additional project objectives include: a plan to revise junior-senior curriculum around the fundamental design and manufacturing principles developed in the two new courses, and dissemination of results through short courses to community colleges in the Oregon State System of Education.
