This paper is based on the premises that the purpose of engineering education is to graduate engineers who can design, and that design thinking is complex. The paper begins by briefly reviewing the history and role of design in the engineering curriculum. Several dimensions of design thinking are then detailed, explaining why design is hard to learn and harder still to teach, and outlining the research available on how well design thinking skills are learned. The currently most-favored pedagogical model for teaching design, project-based learning (PBL), is explored next, along with available assessment data on its success. Two contexts for PBL are emphasized: first-year cornerstone courses and globally dispersed PBL courses. Finally, the paper lists some of the open research questions that must be answered to identify the best pedagogical practices of improving design learning, after which it closes by making recommendations for research aimed at enhancing design learning.

Engineering Design Thinking, Teaching, and Learning

An introduction to heat transfer

https://homepages.fhv.at/hgb/New-Papers/CMAME07_BS07b.pdf

Robust Optimization - A Comprehensive Survey

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Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning

Probabilistic optimization design offers tools for making reliable decisions with the consideration of uncertainty associated with design variables/parameters and simulation models. In a probabilistic design, such as reliability-based design and robust design, the design feasibility is formulated probabilistically such that the probability of the constraint satisfaction (reliability) exceeds the desired limit. The reliability assessment for probabilistic constraints often involves an iterative procedure; therefore, two loops are involved in a probabilistic optimization. Due to the double-loop procedure, the computational demand is extremely high. To improve the efficiency of a probabilistic design, a novel method – sequential optimization and reliability assessment (SORA) is developed in this paper. The SORA method employs a single-loop strategy where a serial of cycles of optimization and reliability assessment is employed. In each cycle optimization and reliability assessment are decoupled from each other; no reliability assessment is required within optimization and the reliability assessment is only conducted after the optimization. The key concept of the proposed method is to shift the boundaries of violated deterministic constraints (with low reliability) to the feasible direction based on the reliability information obtained in the previous cycle. Hence the design is quickly improved from cycle to cycle and the computational efficiency is improved significantly. Two engineering applications, the reliability-based design for vehicle crashworthiness of side impact and the integrated reliability and robust design of a speed reducer, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SORA method.Copyright © 2002 by ASME

Sequential Optimization and Reliability Assessment Method for Efficient Probabilistic Design

Teaching engineering design through senior project or capstone engineering courses has increased in recent years. The trend toward increasing the design component in engineering curricula is part of an effort to better prepare graduates for engineering practice. This paper describes the standard practices and current state of capstone design education throughout the country as revealed through a literature search of over 100 papers relating to engineering design courses. Major topics include the development of capstone design courses, course descriptions, project information, details of industrial involvement, and special aspects of team-oriented design projects. An extensive list of references is provided.

A Review of Literature on Teaching Engineering Design Through Project‐Oriented Capstone Courses

Transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding is a relatively new bonding process that joins materials using an interlayer. On heating, the interlayer melts and the interlayer element (or a constituent of an alloy interlayer) diffuses into the substrate materials, causing isothermal solidification. The result of this process is a bond that has a higher melting point than the bonding temperature. This bonding process has found many applications, most notably the joining and repair of Ni-based superalloy components. This article reviews important aspects of TLP bonding, such as kinetics of the process, experimental details (bonding time, interlayer thickness and format, and optimal bonding temperature), and advantages and disadvantages of the process. A wide range of materials that TLP bonding has been applied to is also presented. Partial transient liquid phase (PTLP) bonding is a variant of TLP bonding that is typically used to join ceramics. PTLP bonding requires an interlayer composed of multiple layers; the most common bond setup consists of a thick refractory core sandwiched by thin, lower-melting layers on each side. This article explains how the experimental details and bonding kinetics of PTLP bonding differ from TLP bonding. Also, a range of materials that have been joined by PTLP bonding is presented.

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Overview of transient liquid phase and partial transient liquid phase bonding

A general approach for robust optimal design

Senior project or Capstone-type courses have existed at engineering schools for many years. Capstone courses provide student engineers the opportunity to solve real-world engineering projects, and have been highly regarded as important learning activities. A survey of Capstone courses in engineering departments throughout North America was conducted in order to understand current practices in Capstone education. This study was conducted for presentation at the 1994 Advances in Capstone Education Conference, held at Brigham Young University, which brought together engineering educators interested in improving Capstone experiences. This conference was sponsored by ASEE, ASME, SME, and NSF. Response to the study was very high, with 360 departments from 173 schools responding to the survey. Survey results were categorized into five major areas of interest: Profile of the Respondents, Course Description Information, Faculty Involvement in Capstone Education, Project Information, and Industrial Involvement in Capstone Education. Graphs provide the results of responses to survey questions.

A Survey of Capstone Engineering Courses in North America

It is sometimes forgotten that industry is an important customer of engineering education. Ignoring this relationship has produced graduates that often fail to meet the changing needs of industry in todayis competitive environment. On the basis of feedback from our industrial customers, faculty from Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering at Brigham Young University have jointly developed a new senior capstone design course entitled iIntegrated Product and Process Design.i This new capstone course is centered on industrial design and manufacturing projects. These projects involve both product and process design activities. Multidisciplinary teams of students are taught a structured development approach to produce typical industrial deliverables. These deliverables include a functional specification, product and process design, prototype, and first production sample. This paper identifies changing industrial needs, describes how the course was designed to meet these needs, and presents results from the initial offerings of the course.

Carl D. Sorensen

Papers

A Review of Literature on Teaching Engineering Design Through Project‐Oriented Capstone Courses

Overview of transient liquid phase and partial transient liquid phase bonding

A general approach for robust optimal design

A Survey of Capstone Engineering Courses in North America

Designing a Senior Capstone Course to Satisfy Industrial Customers