Professional Tools Instruction Within an Overall ME Design Curriculum

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The Mechanical Engineering faculty at Western Kentucky University have developed and implemented a Professional Plan to assure that graduates of the program have experienced key areas of the engineering profession and demonstrated their abilities to perform in a professional manner. The Professional Components within the plan include Engineering Design, Professional Communications, Professional Tools and Engineering Ethics; students receive instruction in at least one course per academic year and are expected to develop within each component. This paper will detail the Professional Tools component, which provides students with computational design tools and prototype realization skills supporting the Engineering Design demands placed on them. Computational tools include software for traditional communication and data processing, solid modeling and analysis, engineering computation and project management. Prototype realization skills encompass the typical metal machining operations necessary to create a functioning reciprocating air-powered engine and activities required for electro-mechanical device construction and testing. Higher level prototyping skills, such as rapid prototyping and CNC machining, are presented to students who can choose to become proficient with these activities or can engage other trained students to assist with their design project needs. The foundation of the four-year Professional Plan is centered on engineering design and problem solving. By exposing freshmen to hands-on projects, sophomores to design-analyze-and-build internal projects, and juniors to team-based prototype realization and external projects, a meaningful senior capstone design sequence involving external customers can validate and refine professional competencies of graduates, rather than introducing students to project activities. Professional tools instruction is interwoven with the other Professional Component instruction. While prototyping training is structured to provide a safe and efficient environment for the students at all times, computational tools are sometimes introduced as required for a project, and at other times well before needed for projects. Refinement to the Professional Plan has been guided by ongoing assessment, which is performed at course level at the end of a semester, and through program outcome assessment reviewed on an annual basis. The paper will detail the Western Kentucky University Professional Tools component of the overall Professional Plan, which provides a framework developing necessary student competencies, building upon previous coursework, assessing student progress, and adjusting course coverage based on prior assessments to assure that departing graduates will be capable of immediately contribute in their professional careers.