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2020-2021 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog

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Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Major

Product design and manufacturing engineering focuses on all the processes needed to develop products, from design and planning to production and delivery of finished products. To this end, this branch of engineering involves a wide range of topics, such as ergonomics, needs identification, manufacturing processes, robotic systems, materials selection, programmable controllers, industrial engineering, and vision systems.

Students who select the product design and manufacturing engineering major prepare themselves for a variety of engineering careers and fulfill the educational requirements for taking the Fundamentals of Engineering professional examination before graduation.

The junior and senior years of the product design and manufacturing engineering program build upon the foundation courses to provide greater depth in engineering science, engineering design, and the focused areas of product design and manufacturing engineering. Students complete required and elective courses distributed in product design materials and manufacturing processes; process, assembly, and product engineering; manufacturing competitiveness and manufacturing systems design.

Integral to all four years of the program is a "design and build" educational philosophy incorporated through extensive laboratory and project activities as preparation for professional practice. Students engage in design at all levels of the curriculum. At each level, they must realize their designs and proceed with testing, validation, and redesign. This approach allows students to experience many real-world constraints such as project economics, project planning and scheduling, environmental considerations, manufacturability/producibility of the designs, laboratory and product safety, and product reliability.

Accreditation

The product design and manufacturing engineering major is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

Program Educational Objectives

Graduates of the product design and manufacturing engineering program are expected within a few years of graduation to

  • demonstrate technical competency in their careers;
  • function effectively in an industrial or academic environment;
  • engage in professional development; and
  • shape their professions and societies.

Student Outcomes and Assessment

The graduate will demonstrate an ability to

  • identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics;
  • apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors;
  • communicate effectively with a range of audiences;
  • recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts;
  • function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives;
  • develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions; and
  • acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Degree Requirements

Product design and manufacturing engineering program students must complete all requirements for the B.S.E. degree including the general education and basic skills requirements, the foundations of engineering courses, cooperative education, the engineering design Capstone, and the following manufacturing engineering courses.

PDM majors must complete an emphasis. Four emphases are offered, general, design, manufacturing systems, and robotics and controls. Each emphasis has required courses and elective courses that are chosen from an approved list. The design, manufacturing systems, and robotics and controls emphases have three required emphasis classes.

Emphases

Product design engineers are responsible for the process of creating and developing new products. They research and develop ideas and processes for new products, improve the performance and design of existing products, and plan production and manage production facilities.

Required For All Emphases

Design Emphasis

The design emphasis allows students to focus on combining their engineering skills and knowledge with their creativity to create innovative products that will succeed in the global marketplace. Students learn how to integrate design methods such as gathering customer requirements, establishing specifications, generating alternative concepts, estimating feasibility, concept selection, embodiment design, design refinement, prototyping, and project planning into a coherent product development strategy.

Required Courses:

Electives (choose two):

General Emphasis

The general emphasis provides a student with an overview of knowledge and skills required to transform a societal need into a finished product for a price that people in the intended market are willing to pay.

Required Courses:

Electives (choose three):

Manufacturing Systems Emphasis

The manufacturing systems emphasis allows students to focus on the design, operation, and integration of systems for the production of high-quality, economically competitive products. These systems include computer networks, robots, machine tools, and materials-handling equipment. Students will learn engineering economics, strategic decision making based on principles of operations management, quality control concepts, method engineering, and process improvement techniques to accomplish the goal of designing and managing world-class manufacturing systems.

Required Courses:

Electives (choose two):

Robotics and Controls Emphasis

The robotics and controls emphasis allows students to focus on the design and development of modern, automated systems to manufacture products as well as to perform tasks that are dangerous, repetitive or time consuming for humans. Students learn how to integrate many types of sensors, actuators, and computer control techniques to design and build these systems.

Required Courses:

Electives (choose two):

Suggested Order of Coursework

Junior and Senior Years

First Co-op Semester

Spring/Summer:

Fifth Academic Semester

Fall:

Second Co-op Semester

Winter:

Sixth Academic Semester

Spring/Summer:

Third Co-op Semester

Fall:

Seventh Academic Semester

Winter:

The prerequisites for EGR 485 are acceptance into the B.S.E. degree program and completion of the prerequisite courses listed under the student's engineering major.

For the product design and manufacturing engineering major, these prerequisite courses are: EGR 301 and EGR 345 and EGR 367.

Eighth Academic Semester

Spring/Summer:

Engineering Program Description

Click here for the program description.


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