Concept development for innovative products - A challenge for engineering design education
Year: 2013
Editor: Udo Lindemann, Srinivasan V, Yong Se Kim, Sang Won Lee, John Clarkson, Gaetano Cascini
Author: Luft, Thomas; Schleich, Benjamin; Wartzack, Sandro
Series: ICED
Institution: FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Page(s): 105-114
ISBN: 978-1-904670-51-3
ISSN: 2220-4334
Abstract
The complexity of new products steadily increases and therefore integrated engineering designers have to be skilled in various fields in order to develop innovative and successful products. This trend has to be considered in university education. Therefore, a new educational concept called âConcept Development for Innovative Productsâ (CIP) is proposed. In this subject the students are confronted with a vague task and are asked to develop and to present concepts for innovative products in teams of five. In this regard, CIP is a combination of three forms of teaching, which are presenting the working progress, discussing and lectures on demand. During mandatory working meetings the students have to present the project status to the supervisors and discuss the next steps with them. Furthermore, they can ask for lectures on specific engineering design methods which are presented using a comprehensive method catalog. The student feedback for CIP in the first semester was excellent and it is a very good enhancement for the curriculum. Consequently, the students are well prepared for a harmonic transition from university to their professional careers.
Keywords: Design education, conceptual design, design methods, teamwork