PRODUCT DISSECTION

This course examines the way in which products and machines work: their physical operation, the manner in which they are constructed, and the design and societal considerations that determine the difference between success and failure in the marketplace.

Course Philosophy

Not a traditional lecture class

Hands-on Experience:

“Tell me, and I will forget;show me, and I will remember;

let me do it, and I will understand.” —Confucius

Retention versus Method - How much do we retain?

Reading 10%

Hearing Words 20%

Looking at Picture 30%

Watching Movie 50%

Looking at Exhibit 50%

Watching Demonstration 50%

Seeing it Done 50%

Participation in Discussion 70%

Giving a Talk 70%

Simulating Real Experience 90%

Doing the Real Thing 90%

Course Objectives

The primary objective of this course is to learn about engineering and product design by:

• Dissecting existing consumer and industrial products to determine how they function, how they were made and how they might be improved

• Explaining that function by applying appropriate physical principles

• Communicating that function effectively - oral, written, electronic, graphic

• Developing visual reasoning skills and basic mechanical aptitude

Course Content

Product dissection, reverse engineering and competitive analysis as a design tool

The product design process and the product life cycle

Team building

Materials and selection

History of technology

ref . Engineering Design Graphics, J. H. Earle, pg 18,used by permission of Addison Wesley, ©1990, all rights reserved

The Design Process

Course Content - continued

Consumer-product interaction issues: aesthetics, ergonomics, “good design”, codes and standards, safety, product liability, ethics, green design

Basic mechanical and electrical components and measurements

Introduction to manufacturing processes and design for manufacturability

Documenting and communicating a design

Where does this course fit in the curriculum ?

Math

Physics

ThermodynamicsChemistry

Statics

Analytical KnowledgeSynthesis

Materials Science

Engineering Design and GraphicsProduct Dissection

Entrepreneurship

Concurrent Eng.

Design

Mfg Processes

Adv Mfg Processes

Project

FreshmanYear

GRADUATE ENGINEER

PRODUCT REALIZATIONMINOR*

*To learn more about the Product Realization Minorvisit: http://www.mne.psu.edu/simpson/PRM/

The Dissection Projects for ME 240

Bicycle(ME 105S)

Engine(ME 107S)

Consumer Products(ME 106S)

Staplers

Drill

Mixer

Single-UseCamera

Telephones

Why take something apart?

To fix it

Curiosity

To learn from real engineering successes and failures

It’s a form of literature search

To see how its made so you can document the design and duplicate it (reverse engineering) or improve on it (value engineering)

Benchmarking, competitive analysis - compare different design alternatives, estimate costs, evaluate the competition

Resources at your disposal

Instructor• Dr. Tim Simpson, Professor, ME & IE

Teaching Assistants

• Omar Ashour & Wonmo Kim (IE)

314 Hammond

101 Engr Unit C for all bike dissection

ME instrument room (23 Reber)

ME student shop (with supervision)

PSU computer laboratories

What do you need to bring?

Safety Glasses• For product dissection

Design Journal

• To record your activities

Basic tools

• Optional

Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty!

• Bicycle and engine components can bevery oily and greasy

What will you get from this course?

Increased aptitude for mechanical and electrical devices and how they work

Awareness of the “big picture” of the product design process and the product life cycle

A greater awareness of how things are made

An appreciation of good design

Effective verbal, graphical and written communication skills

A better idea of what engineers really do