Towards a design model for student Graduation Projects - A case study

Sangarapillai Sivaloganathan, Tamer Shahin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

A Graduation Project (or senior capstone design project) is an important constituent of an engineering program. It has several unique characteristics such as: The end product is a proof of product concept as opposed to a finished product that can be made and sold; the students are novices in design and lack product specific knowledge; and so on. It is therefore appropriate to have a special design model for Graduation projects. The model should have appropriate scaffolds to facilitate the design process. Observations of students taking a graduation project showed that design interpretation of an existing similar product was very useful to the students and was a crucial stage in providing the students with the understanding and confidence needed that experienced designers rely on when designing products. A design model with these provisions was proposed and the model was tested with two student groups designing a similar product: Development of a vertical access platform. Results were consistent with previous observations in that the student group that performed the new model that integrated design interpretation was able to better and more quickly understand the task at hand and allowed them to generate more innovative concepts, which they were not able to do before the design interpretation stage.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education
Subtitle of host publicationDesign Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013
Pages338-343
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Event15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013 - Dublin, Ireland
Duration: Sept 5 2013Sept 6 2013

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013

Other

Other15th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education: Design Education - Growing Our Future, EPDE 2013
Country/TerritoryIreland
CityDublin
Period9/5/139/6/13

Keywords

  • Design model
  • Graduation projects
  • Specialist knowledge
  • Systematic design

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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