2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The capstone course sequence in Biomedical Engineering (BME) provides an opportunity for students to work in a team environment to address an engineering design challenge problem as provided by an industry, clinical or engineering faculty project sponsor. This culminating project allows students to apply their acquired knowledge to a unique project that can result in multiple design outcomes. The course emphasis is placed on the engineering design cycle, project management and documentation, prototype iteration and verification and validation testing. Senior design outcomes suggest that teams rarely learn and apply new prototyping methods and instead solely rely on techniques that have been learned previously in the curriculum. Currently our BME curriculum provides lab-based curricular instruction in CAD modeling for 3D printing, additive manufacturing, Arduino microprocessors, and bioinstrumentation. This WIP paper discusses a pilot course designed for sophomore and junior engineering students to learn additional physical prototyping methods by serving as an introduction to machine-shop, woodworking, and soft material fabrication tools and techniques. In this lecture/lab course, students learn to work with wood using measuring tools, basic power tools and machine shop equipment. In addition, students are introduced to laser cutting, soft plastic molding, sewing, and various methods of fastening. As we continue to offer and refine this course, we plan to track participants through their capstone design sequence to evaluate if formal exposure and instruction in fabrication techniques impact the quality of senior design outcomes. We anticipate this course will be a valuable experience in an enhanced design curricular pathway for undergraduate BME students.