Winning Projects:
a Detergent Organizer that students can fill and carry, rather than taking large, heavy laundry bottles (2nd Place), and
a Better Soap Case that drains water away from the soap (finalist). |
Rensselaer students took two of the top six spots at the 2005 ASME Student Manufacturing Design Competition, with one team finishing in second place. The competition, which was held in early November at the International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exposition in Orlando, Fla., is designed to provide the engineering community with fresh new perspectives on design and to create a forum for students to share their new and innovative ideas.
How it started...
Design a product you would use—that was the challenge put forth to freshman students enrolled in the Product Design and Innovation (PDI) Studio 2 course.
PDI student Charlotte Williamson designed a laundry Detergent Organizer that students could fill with detergent and carry to the washing machine, rather than lugging a large, heavy laundry bottle. Felicia Chang designed a Better Soap Case that drains water away from the soap.
Both designs were selected from 20+ entries for mass-production the following semester by students in the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory (AML). With the support of industrial partners Arcadia – Water Jet Services, BASF, Haas / HFO Allendale, Kintz Plastics, and LoDolce Machinery (who served as customers of the class), AML students redesigned the Detergent Organizer and Better Soap Case for manufacturability. Then they designed and implemented an automated manufacturing system to make 600 units of each product.
Two Rensselaer projects place among the top six in the ASME Student Manufacturing Design Competition
Again, these products were selected from outstanding competition. The Detergent Organizer won second place (with a $750 award) and the Better Soap Case was one of six finalists in the 2005 ASME Student Manufacturing Design Competition.
“The fact that two Rensselaer teams were among the six finalists and one team actually placed in the top three is a testament to the PDI/AML collaboration that has made this all possible,” notes Professor Daniel Walczyk, team advisor for the Detergent Organizer. “It is actually quite an accomplishment amid fierce competition,” echoed Richard Smith, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs.
Winning projects reflect Rensselaer’s innovative manufacturing courses and supporting facilities
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| Rensselaer's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities were highlighted in CNC Machining (PDF) |
Recently, Rensselaer’s innovative approaches to manufacturing engineering have received national attention. A feature article on Rensselaer’s manufacturing engineering programs was written for the latest issue of CNC Machining.
The article highlights some of the sophisticated equipment in the HAAS Technical Education Center (HTEC). “When I bring students around to the Haas Technical Education Center, their first question is, ‘Can I really use those machines?’ Most people who go into mechanical engineering want to get their hands dirty and actually cut parts,” confides Mark Steiner, Director, O.T. Swanson Multidisciplinary Design Lab (MDL). “I know I did.” Steiner adds.
Better Soap Case team leader and Manager of Fabrication and Prototyping Resources, Sam Chiappone sums up Rensselaer’s innovative program —“The AML is an opportunity for students to literally practice engineering in a model which represents the real word. They are in control of selecting processing methods, designing and manufacturing tooling, integrating all aspects of the system, and final production. The students truly get a chance to work through problems and implement solutions to the problems based lesson they lean in AML and other classes here at Rensselaer.”
About the ASME Student Manufacturing Design Competition
Objective: The purpose of the competition is to foster interest in manufacturing, provide the manufacturing engineering community with fresh new perspectives on design,and create a forum for students to share their new and innovative ideas.
“There was great diversity of projects, with some as heavily engaged teams of undergraduates working on large scope projects (e.g. manufacturing system design/build activities), and others as individual undergraduate or graduate students with specific focus (e.g. process development),” commented Michael F. Molnar, Program Chair of the competition. “A multi-attribute score sheet was used to consistently evaluate each project, with points awarded for Creativity, Practicality, Manufacturability, Analysis Integrity, Quality of the technical paper, and Quality of the oral presentation.”
Related Links
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AML Projects
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ASME Student Manufacturing Design Competition
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http://divisions.asme.org/med/studentprograms/ |
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Product Design and Innovation (PDI) course
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AML Course
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CNC Machining article
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