2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper describes the strategies and ongoing efforts to transform a traditional engineering graphics course at a large Midwestern University into a new course that can more suitably respond to the realities of the current digital enterprise paradigm. The course is offered every semester (Fall, Spring, and Summer) with an average enrollment of 650 students per semester and it is structured as a lecture/lab course.
With the advent of Industry 4.0 and digital enterprise environments, the importance of Product Data Management (PDM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) continues to grow in industry, yet it is the exception rather than the rule in engineering and technology education. In this paper, we discuss an approach to instruction where students develop their CAD and engineering design graphics skills in the context of a digital enterprise environment. Our goal is to expose engineering students to the concepts, capabilities, and processes involved in digital enterprise so that they are familiar with the tools and methods they will encounter in their future careers. We discuss the new instructional materials, resources, and laboratory assignments that were specifically developed for this course, as well as the technology, workflows, and digital environments that were implemented to replicate the current industrial ecosystems. We also discuss the challenges faced during such an implementation, and ways to overcome those obstacles.

The course is designed to provide a strong foundation in engineering graphics, particularly parametric solid modeling, design for reuse, as well as the processes, data flows, and technologies involved in a digital enterprise, particularly through the lens of Product Data Management (PDM). These two components were combined in a synergistic manner so that all CAD work occurs through PDM, which serves as a course management system. In the current version of the course, all documentation, assignments, and lab materials are made available via a Learning Management System and the submissions are stored and tracked using a PDM system. The students are asked to submit their CAD work to the PDM system, applying industry concepts such as Creating a Product Structure and signing off the submission via an Engineering Change Order. The introduction of such processes are embedded into traditional teaching concepts, such as assignment rework and regrading. Grading and feedback are initially provided via the PDM system, and later reflected in the Learning Management System (LMS) to ensure a cyclic information flow process is achieved. In the future, we plan to distribute assignments as sets of requirements in the PDM system, which students must meet and link their file to, thus introducing the students to the concept of a digital thread.

This course redesign is the first step toward a significant curricular revision in our major, which includes courses in model-based definition, digital manufacturing, and simulation processes, among others, and the deployment of PDM as a common infrastructure for the courses.