Renovation of a mechanical engineering senior design class to an industry-tied and team-oriented course

ABSTRACT

In this work, an industry-based and team-oriented education model was established based on a traditional mechanical engineering (ME) senior design class in order to better prepare future engineers and leaders so as to meet the increasing demand for high-quality engineering graduates. In the renovated curriculum, industry-sponsored projects became the most important course component and critical assessment tool, from which problem-solving skills as well as employability skills of the ME students can be fully developed. Hands-on experiences in finite element analysis (FEA) modelling and simulation were also added into the renovated curriculum to promote the application of FEA on engineering design and assessment. Evaluation of the renovated course was conducted using two instruments and the results have shown that the course made the ME senior students more prepared for their future career and a win–win model was created between the industry partner and the ME programme through it. Impact of the renovated syllabus on Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology goals was discussed. Based on the current progress, a more substantial change is being planned to further improve the effectiveness and practicability of this design course. The renovated course was started to offer to the ME senior students at Mississippi State University.

KEYWORDS:

• Industry-sponsored project
• team design project
• mechanical engineering system design
• curriculum renovation
• Mississippi State University

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Yucheng Liu, Ph.D., PE, is Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Mississippi State University. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Louisville in 2005. Dr Liu possesses a rich teaching experience; since 2006, he has taught 11 courses at three universities. Dr Liu’s research interests include impact and penetration mechanics, multiscale modelling and simulation, wave energy technology and so on. To date, he has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Dr Liu is a member of American Society of Engineering Education, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, and American Association for the Advancement of Science.