Make and test projects in engineering design: creativity, engagement and learning

Andrew E. Samuel1852339152, 9781852339159

Make and test projects are used as introductory design experiences in almost every engineering educational institution world wide.

However, the educational benefits and costs associated with these projects have been seldom examined. Make and Test Projects in Engineering Design provides a serious examination of the design of make and test projects and their associated educational values. A taxonomy is provided for the design of make and test projects as well as a catalogue of technical information about unconventional engineering materials and energy sources. Case studies are included based on the author?s experience of supervising make and test projects for over twenty-five years.

The book is aimed at the engineering educator and all those planning and conducting make and test projects. Up until now, this has been topic dealt with informally. Make and Test Projects in Engineering Design is the first book that formalises this important aspect of early learning in engineering design and will be an invaluable teaching tool and resourse for educators in engineering design.

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Table of contents :
Contents……Page 16
Foreword……Page 6
Preface……Page 8
Acknowledgement……Page 14
1. Introduction……Page 24
2. Invention, Creativity, Engagement: MaT Projects……Page 36
2.1 Inventing, Inventions and Design……Page 40
2.2 An Instructive Example: The Can Opener……Page 46
2.3 Cognitive Science, Creativity and Analysis in Design……Page 54
2.4 Engagement and Learning……Page 61
2.5 Some Examples of Generic MaT Projects in Engineering Design……Page 65
2.6 The Benefits and Costs of MaT Projects……Page 68
2.7 Chapter Summary……Page 75
3.1 MaT Projects Using Static Structures……Page 76
Design for Axial Loading (Struts)……Page 77
Design for Transverse Loading (beams)……Page 78
Energy Sources……Page 81
Wheeled Vehicles……Page 82
Vehicles Designed to travel in or Over Water……Page 84
Devices with Mixed Performance Requirements……Page 86
3.3 Some Key Materials of Construction……Page 88
3.4 Level of Difficulty and Complexity of Projects……Page 89
3.5 Team Dynamics……Page 93
3.6 Morphology of MaT Projects……Page 94
3.7 Chapter Summary……Page 99
4. Properties and Application of Some Unconventional Engineering Materials……Page 100
4.1 Balsa Wood……Page 101
Mechanical Properties……Page 103
4.2 Newsprint……Page 105
Mechanical Properties of Paper……Page 111
Rigid Polyurethane Foam and Foamcore……Page 112
Bamboo Skewers……Page 113
Drinking Straws, Spaghetti……Page 114
Cotton Thread……Page 115
Testing Balsa Wood……Page 116
Testing Newsprint……Page 118
Testing of Other Unconventional Structural Materials……Page 119
Some Additional Notes on Testing and Failure Behaviour……Page 120
4.5 Adhesives……Page 121
4.6 Test Results for Mechanical Properties of MaT Project Construction Materials……Page 124
4.7 Chapter Summary……Page 129
5.1 Sample MaT Project Problems and Presentation……Page 130
5.2.1 Balsa Bridge……Page 136
5.2.2 Balsa Structure……Page 139
5.2.3 Paper Column……Page 141
5.2.4 Urethane Foam Structure……Page 145
5.3 Supplementary Opportunities for Static MaT Projects……Page 148
5.4 Chapter Summary and Caveats……Page 151
6. Dynamic MaT Projects: Things That Go “Bump”……Page 152
Thermal Energy……Page 153
Potential Energy (Gravity Driven)……Page 155
Kinetic Energy……Page 156
Elastic Energy……Page 158
Electrical Energy Sources……Page 162
6.2 A Panoply of Dynamic MaT Projects……Page 165
Fetch and Carry MaT Projects……Page 166
“How Can it be Done?” Projects……Page 167
6.3 Administration and Conduct of Dynamic MaT Projects……Page 168
6.4 Case studies of Dynamic MaT Projects……Page 172
Energy from Toy Rubber Balloons and Mousetraps……Page 173
6.6 Chapter Summary……Page 177
7. Case Examples of Dynamic MaT Projects……Page 178
Projects Involving Water-based Transport……Page 179
A Beverage Can Roller (ABC)……Page 180
Sample Entries……Page 182
Case Example 2 – Walking on Water (Aquaped)……Page 191
Case Example 3 – One Candle-power Engine (OCPE)……Page 199
Case Example 4 – Mechanical Frog (JFC)……Page 209
Daring Young Designers and Flying-machines (DYDaF)……Page 216
Payloads on Pools (PoP)……Page 217
Projects Involving Direct Head-to-head Contests (Drawbar Pull)……Page 219
Climbing and Jumping MaT Projects……Page 220
7.4 Some Concluding Notes on Design Guidance and Engagement……Page 224
7.5 Chapter Summary……Page 225
8. Concluding Notes and Some “CUTIEs”……Page 226
8.1 CUTIE 1: Temperature-controlled Soldering Iron……Page 227
8.2 CUTIE 2: Galileo’s Thermometer……Page 228
8.3 CUTIE 3: Tensegrity Structures……Page 230
Wind Farms……Page 232
Energy from the Ocean……Page 233
MaT Project Metaphor……Page 234
8.6 Some Further Interesting Problems……Page 241
The Shape of Things……Page 242
The Way Things Work……Page 244
Some Not-so-clever Inventions……Page 246
Creative Ideas and Patents……Page 248
8.7 Chapter Summary……Page 251
References and Bibliography……Page 252
Engineering Case Library……Page 264
Readings for MaT Project Planning……Page 265
A1.1.1 Forces……Page 266
A1.1.2 Planar Pinned Structures……Page 268
A1.1.3 Bending……Page 271
A1.1.4 Torsion……Page 274
A1.2.1 Force and Acceleration……Page 275
A1.2.2 Work and Energy……Page 277
A1.3 Very Elementary Gas Dynamics……Page 280
A1.4 Newton or Aristotle?……Page 284
Appendix A2. Units of Measurement and Conversion Factors……Page 286
Systems of Measurement and Standardisation……Page 287
Some Derived Units and Dimensions……Page 288
Conversion Factors……Page 291
Appendix A3. Some Properties of Plane Sections and Answers to Selected Exercises……Page 292
C……Page 296
I……Page 297
P……Page 298
V……Page 299
Z……Page 300