Materials selection exercises based on current events

Abstract

Issues relating to a wide range of consumer and industrial products appear in newspaper articles and on a variety of television shows, every day. These exercises were developed to give engineering students a societal and global perspective on technical problems important to the general public. Beginning with the concerns brought to light in a newspaper article, students employed their knowledge of material selection methodology and engineering principles to investigate the implication of the choice of materials. The CES EduPack 2005 Materials Selection software is utilized as the primary tool to provide the technical support for their analysis, conclusions, and comments. The general format of the exercises presented here includes the task outline, materials selection techniques, specifications for oral and written assignments, and the in-class activities and discussions. The exercises were implemented based on two newspaper headlines, "Marines Say Body Armor Too Heavy" and "Mission: Design Better (Space) Gloves". Samples of student work highlighted the different skill levels of achieved by students applying the techniques of material selection, as well as, the unique perspective of individual students to solving and/or commenting on these open end problems. With their ability to share results through presentations, students were teaching students. The peer evaluations developed a positive classroom environment promoting creativity and improvement in the technical content of subsequent projects. Students began to see the connections between the public concerns and opinions, and their role as engineers in the design, development or manufacture of a product. The possibilities for media examples are endless and provide students and faculty with a wide range of ideas to promote interest, motivation and a learning opportunity for today's engineering student. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.