9451324 Tsang This project will implement a sophomore-level laboratory course on materials, manufacturing and design. The course will be activity- and inquiry driven, and will provide mechanical engineering students with an opportunity early in their college career to investigate and practice some general principles of materials science and some general concepts in manufacturing to solve a real-world problem in a design project involving press-forming/press-shaping. The laboratory course will carry one (l) credit hour with half (0.5) credit hour of design, and will meet once a week for three hours. It will consist of lecture/demonstration during the first 20 to 30 minutes of the class period, hands-on investigation by students during the next hour-and-a-half to two hours, and will conclude with a class discussion devoted to interpreting the results of the investigation and how they relate to the design project. Students will work in teams of two or three. The four basic elements of materials science and engineering -- synthesis and processing, structure, properties, and performance -- will be investigated by students in laboratory experiments and applied in the design project. Statistics and probability as they relate to product descriptions, tolerance, and properties will be applied by students in the design project. They will also practice the process of design for manufacturability, tool selection, and tooth path optimization. The laboratory course will be team-taught. The project will be assessed by tracking the progress of students who are enrolled in the proposed course as they move forward in the engineering curriculum. Results of the project will be disseminated by paper presentations in regional and national conference, and published in journals.
