accessengineering case study
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Giving engineering students around the world the tools they need for real-world successTRANSCRIPT
AccessEngineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology: A Case StudyGraduate education is a challenging venture. The process is even more
challenging when your field of study requires information and knowledge from
multiple engineering disciplines to be successful. As an Associate Professor
of Engineering Management my charge is to provide undergraduate and
graduate students with an educational experience that mimics the technical
and leadership challenges they will face after graduation. While my educational
training and industrial experience lends itself more to the operational aspects
of an organization, many of my students’ backgrounds will differ greatly,
and as such it is useful to have access to information that spans virtually all
engineering disciplines—something that AccessEngineering provides.
Given this, it is impossible to overestimate the value our students gain from having an electronic engineering reference tool like AccessEngineering. The database provides them information on the top ten classical engineering disciplines, as well as many of the related foundational and advanced mathematical courses. In addition, my students enjoy using the various learning aids delivered in formats, such as videos, interactive graphs, self-directed instructional modules, and calculators, that reinforce course lectures and assist with daily homework assignments. However, given my primary focus which is graduate-level instruction, my students in particular have found AccessEngineering’s content and functionality particularly advantageous when working on class projects. An example project from Manufacturing Systems exemplifies the usefulness of the reference tool…
Class Projects: How AccessEngineering Guides Students Toward the SolutionStudents enrolled in Manufacturing Systems are given a term project that requires them to design a manufacturing facility to produce a product of their choosing. Many of the students will choose a product that harnesses the skills of their specific engineering discipline, but that is the easy part. Once they receive the facility design requirements and production capability, things get interesting.
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AccessEngineering: GivinG StudentS the toolS for real-World SucceSS
By craig G. downing, Ph.d., cMfgeAssociate Professor of Engineering Management, Rose-Hulman
Faculty Advisory Board Member, AccessEngineering
“…My charge is to provide
undergraduate and
graduate students with
an educational experience
that mimics the technical
and leadership challenges
they will face after
graduation.”
www.AccessEngineeringLibrary.com
Cont. Class Projects It is at this point students begin to recalibrate their expectations from the
component level issues and begin to grapple with the interconnectedness
of the enterprise. Successful completion of the project challenges students
to assemble information from various aspects of facility design to present a
comprehensive and viable venture proposal. This requires students to define
specifications for site location, labor requirements, process design, product
design, material handling, marketing strategy and future plans.
In one case a team needed to perform a cost-benefit analysis between
two joining approaches: welding versus fasteners. To fully understand the
analysis the students were required to verify the load conditions, assembly
implications, and material selection. While trying to accomplish this goal
they gathered information from three handbooks (in Mechanical Engineering,
Industrial Engineering, and Design for Manufacturing) and two videos (Tool
Materials Introduction and Ferrous Tool Materials). Once they amassed the
individual data points a new design emerged to consider the sum total of
new information. While this project is academic in nature, students find that
the resources of AccessEngineering exactly match those needed to be an
effective engineer in practice.
As the field of engineering continues to address the complex issues of the
world it is essential that educators, students, and practitioners have the
appropriate tools to prepare themselves in the best way possible to be value-
added contributors. AccessEngineering is a superb tool that offers volumes
of resources that a student at any level—from entering freshman design to
completing a doctoral dissertation—can use to improve their understanding
of engineering in both theoretical and practical applications. The content is
provided in various mediums to assist students in learning the information
in a manner that best suits them. Filled with credible teaching and learning
resources, AccessEngineering equips engineering educators and students
with resources capable of positively transforming the learning experience.
Let’s harness that power to the betterment of our discipline!
craig G. downing, Ph.d., cMfgeDepartment Head and Associate Professor of Engineering Management, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN, USA
“Students find that
the resources of
AccessEngineering
exactly match those
needed to be an
effective engineer
in practice.”
www.AccessEngineeringLibrary.com