Introduction to Engineering Design

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
ENGR 1190
Descriptive
Introduction to Engineering Design
Department
Engineering
Faculty
Science & Technology
Credits
4.00
Start Date
End Term
201730
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
36
Contact Hours
2 hours lecture / 4 hours lab
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Lab
Learning Activities

Lectures and lab with an emphais on small group work.

Course Description
As part of a complete first-year engineering program this course will cover introductory principles of engineering design concepts through practical projects to be undertaken by teams of students. The projects and exercises will give students experience with the entire design process, from needs-assessment to final testing and documentation. The final project will involve design, construction and programming of a computer controlled machine such as an autonomous robot to perform an assigned task.
Course Content

The fundamental principles of engineering design will be introduced and reinforced through hands-on exercises and project work.  Topics will include needs assessment, design constraints, generating and assessing alternative designs, modelling and optimization, and communicating the design outcome.

Students will work in teams to complete a number of design exercises and projects, which will give students multiple opportunities to experience the design process, from definition of needs, to implementation and final testing. 

There will be two major projects: 

  • In the first project, teams of students will take a design from problem definition and identification of constraints through conceptual and preliminary design, and possibly (depending on complexity) including the construction of a prototype. 
  • In the second project, teams of students design, construct, and program a machine such as an autonomous robot to perform a specific task.  All materials such as a robot kit with a microprocessor, various motors and sensors will be provided.  This project will take the design process from a clearly defined problem through conceptual design, preliminary design, testing, detailed design and documentation.

Students will be expected to provide proper documentation of their designs and of the design process that has been followed.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

  1. Follow a standard structured engineering design process to develop a solution to a design problem;
  2. Assess stated needs/requirements to develop a design problem statement that addresses the core need/requirement;
  3. Undertake research to identify relevant background information and prior art;
  4. Apply selected creative thinking methods to develop innovative solutions for engineering design problems;
  5. Apply formal decision making methods to assist in choosing between alternative conceptual designs
  6. Follow standard structured process to design a system comprised of electrical, mechanical, computer and software sub-systems
  7. Apply discipline specific technical knowledge in the design process and demonstrate understanding of the relevance of that knowledge to the disciplines in professional practice;
  8. Demonstrate selected teamwork skills toward the successful accomplishment of an engineering design project;
  9. Identify business, social, environmental and regulatory considerations relevant to the execution of an engineering design project;
  10. Apply selected tools for effective management of time and resources in the context of an engineering design project.
Means of Assessment

Assignments                                 15-30%

Quizzes                                        15-30%

Project #1 - Team evaluation          10-15%

Project #1 - Individual evaluation    10-15%

Project #2 - Team evaluation          10-15%

Project #2 - Individual evaluation    10-15%

Textbook Materials

Materials will be selected by the instructor at the start of the course, but will include:

Textbooks such as Pym and Little, Engineering Design: A Project Based Approach (current edition) published by Wiley and Design tools such as SketchUp

Prerequisites

CMPT 1110 or equivalent.

Corequisites

None.

Equivalencies

None.

Which Prerequisite

None.