2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper presents an analysis of course projects undertaken in two elective courses, Advanced Manufacturing and Additive Manufacturing, at a midsized Mid-Atlantic university. These courses, comprising both undergraduate and graduate students, were focused on hands-on, project-based learning where students were tasked with identifying market needs or gaps in the consumer space and developing technology-driven product solutions. In the Advanced Manufacturing course, students were required to ideate, design, and prototype products that were cost-effective and easy to manufacture, leveraging methods such as 3D printing, machining, and the use of off-the-shelf components. Key skills such as CAD modeling, microcontroller programming, and project management tools like Gantt charts were integrated into the project workflow. Students’ final presentations included product demonstrations, after which they completed a reflective poll to evaluate their engineering and entrepreneurial mindsets, ABET criteria fulfillment, and Business Model Canvas application. The poll provided insights into students' approaches, learning experiences, and outcomes.
In the Additive Manufacturing course, students were tasked with designing and prototyping a commercially available part. Given that this elective is offered to Senior and Graduate levels, students were tested on their ability to design and optimize the product with more attention to the engineering details. Inspired by the SAMPE Student Bridge Contest, students were tasked to fabricate a part with predefined geometric and material constraints. At the end of the semester, teams gathered in the mechanical engineering lab to characterize the mechanical behavior of their prototypes based on a ‘maximum strength-to-weight ratio’ winning criterion. Afterwards, in their final presentation day, teams discussed their design approaches, including fundamental mechanics and manufacturing aspects of the projects, and how they can make connections between engineering fundamentals (learned through a small project) and the practical solutions (applicable to product development).
This paper analyzes the poll results and highlights some of the standout student projects, discussing the strategies employed, the skills developed, and the overall learning successes. Additionally, the paper offers suggestions for future improvements to enhance the effectiveness of project-based learning in these manufacturing courses.