Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Course John Callister & Marty Murtagh NCIIA Conference

Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Course

John Callister & Marty Murtagh

NCIIA Conference San Jose, California

March 21, 2014

Marty MurtaghMaterial Sci.

Tobias HanrathChemical Eng.

Rhett WeissJohnson School

John CallisterMechanical Eng.

Cornell Engineering

MSE = Material Science and Engineering

ChemE = Chemical Engineering

MAE = Mechanical Engineering

Acronyms

• MSE had traditionally been focused on preparing undergraduates for graduate school, and on its graduate program

• But, some students went into industry after getting their bachelors

• Employers noted that these students lacked design skills

Background – Material Science at Cornell

• Adjunct Professor Marty Murtagh, full-time Corning Inc. engineer, was given the task of updating the design courses in MSE.

• MSE 3070 Materials Design Concepts I (junior level) and MSE 4070 Materials Design Concepts II (senior level) were the results of this.


• While these courses were big improvements, all of the other MSE courses remained very laboratory based involving materials at small scales.

• The students still tended to have a lab rat approach.


• Disclaimer: It is actually called the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

• Recently, Professor Tobias Hanrath introduced a new nanotechnology senior product design class.

• Historically, the ChemE department had only offered a senior process design class.

Background – Chemical Engineering at Cornell

Background – Chemical Engineering at Cornell

Process Design

• MAE does not have a senior capstone design class.

• Seniors take add-on one-credit design projects that are affiliated with courses.

• Or, seniors can take an independent design project to fulfill this requirement.

• Students have to fill out the form….

Background – Mechanical Engineering at Cornell

Background – Mechanical Engineering at Cornell

• MSE has a new senior design class, but the designs are a bit flat.

• ChemE has a new product design class, but there was some dissatisfaction with it.

• MAE has a very flexible senior design requirement, so one could quite easily extend this to a new class, at least for awhile.

Background

• An anonymous donor wants to fund an interdisciplinary design course or program of some kind.

• There are 7 digits in the dollar number.

Background

• MSE students will provide the materials-enabled part of the design.

• ChemE students will be able to design a large-scale process to make the new product in quantity.

• MAE students will be able to help with CAD and machining, as they learn this in the MAE sophomore design class.

Interdisciplinary Design Course

• Can’t fit all the lectures on design AND the business case material into one semester!

Interdisciplinary Design Course - Planning

• Solution: MBA Mentors! They will assist students with the business case.


• MSE: “home” of the course• ChemE: cross-listed• MAE: cross-listed• Johnson: volunteer MBA mentors


• MSE: most entrepreneurial department?


• Form groups of five students• Start the semester with 6 weeks of lectures

Interdisciplinary Design Course – Course Design

Lecture Topics

• Innovation staging (1)• Design essentials (6)• Intellectual property (2)• Reliability (2)• House of quality (1)• Marketing overview (1)• Guest lectures (3)

– “Sustainability as guide to Product Development”– “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ )”– “The Startup Business Case”

(# of lectures)

• Case Study• Each group studies an existing company and

reports on it.• Focus is on innovation and intellectual

property.


• Startup Initiation Worksheet• Each group proposes the product they will

design• The scope of the invention is spelled out

clearly.


• House of Quality• Each group surveys its target market• The voice of the customer is determined• This is used to find the product requirements.


• Weekly Design Reviews• Each group meets for 45 minutes (or more)

with faculty• The objective is getting through the Level

One (proof of concept) and Level Two (feasibility) gates


Innovation Staging

I Gather

KnowledgeR

Innovation Product Development Hierarchy*

IIAssess

Feasibility R&D

IIIScrutinize

UtilityD&E

IVDemonstrate Profitability

E&M

VOversee

Life CycleM

Decision Gate

Startup focus

*Adapted from Corning Incorporated Global Innovation Effectiveness 2010

Design Review13 March 2013

Tesla Energy SystemsJustin Araway, Matt Boban, Sophie Zhu, Nick Chartrain

1

Responsibilities

• Matt Boban: CTO– Technology and IP

• Justin Araway: CFO– Operations, Financial Projections, Supply Chain

• Sophie Zhu: CMO– Market Research, Branding, Sales

• Nick Chartrain: CEO– Business Plan, Putting it all Together

2

Design Gateway Level 1

• Market– Customer Pull– Problem customers experience is well defined

• Product– IP position has been well researched, strategy not defined– Product function has been well defined

• Process– Process will be a vital part of our IP position

• Business Case– Patent preferable to trade secret– Has financial viability

3

• Had 25 students, put into 6 groups. • Not really enough MAE, ChemE students.• None of the groups produced a working

prototype by the end of the semester.• Progress was made by all.• All groups followed the design process.

Interdisciplinary Design Course – Outcomes

• Process was a success• It is difficult to get around roadblocks quickly• There was a lot of pressure on the one MAE

student in each group to be really good at CAD

• MBA mentors helped a great deal• Student evaluations were very good• Course is being taught this year…16 students


Interdisciplinary Design Course

• Q&A• John Callister, [email protected]

Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Course John Callister & Marty Murtagh NCIIA Conference

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