A concise and practical guide to succeeding in the undergraduate engineering capstone design project
In Engineering Capstone Design Project: Planning, Organizing, and Executing, a team of accomplished engineers delivers a practical guide for engineering students undertaking their capstone design project course in the final year of their bachelor program. It covers two aspects of the capstone course: planning and the design process. You’ll explore how to organize your team, manage and develop your project, and communicate with clients, advisors, suppliers, and manufacturers. You’ll also discover a detailed, step-by-step approach to the design process following the milestones and requirements of engineering capstone design courses.
The book focuses on the process of mechanical engineering design but also includes material covering electrical, chemical, biomedical, and control systems engineering design. It also offers several illustrative case studies of successful capstone design projects completed at McGill University.
Readers will also find:
- A thorough introduction to the principles of organization of capstone design courses, including learning attributes and grade attribution
- Comprehensive step-by-step instructions to the design process
- Useful case studies from academic, industrial, and McGill student design competition capstone projects
- Examples and anecdotes drawn from the authorial team’s extensive professional and academic experience in engineering design and project advice
Perfect for undergraduate students taking the capstone mechanical engineering project course, Engineering Capstone Design Project: Planning, Organizing, and Executing will also benefit students of other engineering design courses seeking a clear, step-by-step approach to the design process.
Table of Contents:
Preface xi
About the Companion Website xv
Introduction: Capstone Design Project
1 Engineering Design: Definitions and Methods 1
Types of Engineering Design 1
Engineering Design Process 3
Product Design 4
Mechanical Design 4
Electrical Design 4
Industrial Design 4
Civil Design 5
Architectural Design 5
Software Design 5
Systems Engineering in Engineering Design Process 5
Engineering Design Methods 6
Axiomatic Design 6
Biomimetic Design 6
Concurrent Engineering 7
Design for Assembly 7
Design for Manufacturability (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) 7
Design for Manufacture 7
Design for Properties and Life Cycle 8
Design for Scale 8
Design for Six Sigma 8
Design for Social Innovation 9
Design to the Edges 9
Efficiency Design 9
Human Scale Design 9
Interdisciplinary Design 9
Mixed Use Design 10
Modular Design 10
Naïve Design 14
Parallel Design 15
Passive Design 15
Quiet Design 15
Regenerative Design 15
Restorative Design 15
Reverse Engineering 16
Safety by Design 16
Slow Design 16
Social Design 16
Strategic Design 16
Sustainable Design 16
System Design 17
Transition Design 17
User Experience Design 17
Waterfall Design 17
2 Fundamental Design Principles 19
Research and Analysis of Existing Solutions 19
Ergonomics 19
Occam’s Razor 20
“Best Practices” of Product Development 21
Independent Functions: Keep the Functions of a Design Independent from One Another 22
Ideation, Creativity, and Brainstorming 22
Lateral Thinking 23
Duality of Innovation and Design 23
Engineering Design Practice 24
Units and Measurements 25
Fasteners and Methods of Attachments 25
Off-the-Shelf Components in Design 25
Modular Design 26
Freezes 26
Accuracy, Repeatability, and Resolution 26
Sensitive Directions 27
Reference Features 27
Managing Friction 28
Heat Resistance 30
Simplification of Model During Simulation 30
Centers of Action 31
Preloads and Press Fits 31
Design for Reliability 31
Factor of Safety Method 32
Aesthetics in Engineering Design 33
Engineering Verification and Validation 36
3 What Do You Need to Know Before Starting Capstone Project 37
Communications in Engineering Capstone Projects 37
Industrial Sponsors and IP in Capstone Projects 40
Types of Intellectual Property 41
Copyright 41
Industrial Design 41
Trademark 41
Patent 41
Trade Secret 42
Risk Management in Capstone Projects 42
Safety in Engineering Design 45
Engineering Ethics and Deontology 46
4 Design Phases in Mechanical Engineering Capstone Projects 49
Design Thinking Process 49
A Creativity Boosting Approach 50
Five Stages of Design Thinking 50
Design of Mechanical Systems: Iterative Process 51
Customer Statement 54
Principles of Team Forming 55
Work Organization: Gantt Chart and File with the Tasks 56
Problem Definition 60
Understanding the Problem 62
Clarification of Objectives 63
Establishing of User Requirements 65
Establishment of the Functions 67
Identification of Constraints 70
Formulation of Assumptions 77
Formulation of Design Requirements and Design Specifications 78
Project Definition 79
Collecting Information 79
Product Research 80
User Research 80
Market Research 80
Technical/Engineering Research 81
Literature and Other Sources of Information 81
Experimental and Test Data 86
Conceptual Design 89
The Core of Conceptual Design 89
Selection of Parameters for Conceptual Design 90
Development of Engineering Specifications 91
Brainstorming 92
Individual Brainstorming 93
Group Brainstorming 93
Selection of Evaluation Criteria and Contradiction Matrix 95
Generation of Alternatives 97
Engineering Analysis and Mathematical Modeling in Design 98
Types of Engineering Analysis 98
Main Stages of General Engineering Analysis 103
Tools for Engineering Analysis 104
Evaluation of Design Solutions and Decision Making 105
Criteria Selection 105
Decision-Making 105
Pugh Matrix 107
Layout at the Stage of Conceptual Design 108
Embodiment Design 108
Design Configuration and 3D CAD Modeling 109
Analysis of the Design 111
Detailed Design 112
Detailed Engineering Design 112
Detailed Design Iterations and Final 3D CAD Modeling of a Product 113
Selection of the Off-the-Shelf Components, Materials, and Suppliers 115
Compatibility of OTS Components with the Designed Product 116
Material Selection and Its Influence on Design 116
Ordering Standard Parts and Materials 117
Pre-production Adjustments (Corrections) 118
Manufacturing of the Product 120
5 Analysis and Optimization in Capstone Projects 121
Types of Analysis in Engineering Design 121
Strength and Other Load-related Characteristics 121
Static and Dynamic Loads 122
Stress and Stress Concentration 123
Strain 125
Hooke’s Law 126
FEA: Stress, Strain, and Displacement 126
Vibration Analysis 127
Potential Difficulties in Design for Vibrations 128
Methods of Elimination or Reducing Vibrations 129
Thermal Analysis 130
Fatigue Analysis 130
Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis 131
Load Case Analysis 132
Worst-Case Scenario and Model Simplification 132
Optimization in Engineering Design 135
6 Design Graphics and Graphics Communication 137
Role of Graphics Communication in Engineering Design 137
Frequently Asked Questions on Graphics Communication 139
Principles of Presenting Good Manufacturing Drawings 146
View Placement and Formatting 146
Dimensioning 147
Assembly Drawings 148
Grading of Detailed Drawings: Typical Mistakes 148
7 Prototyping in Capstone Projects 151
Digital Manufacturing in Design Process and its Role in Capstone Project 151
Types of Traditional and Modern Manufacturing 153
Subtractive Manufacturing 153
Formative Processes 154
Additive Manufacturing 154
Additive Manufacturing and its Application to Product Development 155
Using Additive Manufacturing: Practical Hints and Warnings 160
Additive Manufacturing in Medical Applications 160
Test Assembling of the Prototype 162
8 Experiments, Testing, and Quality Control in Capstone Projects 163
Safety During Experiments and Testing 165
Design of Experiment or Test 165
Standardized Testing 165
Measurement Standards 166
Calibration and Certification 166
Types of Errors in Measurement Systems 166
Variables 168
Test and Experiment Plan 169
Quality Control 170
9 Design Process in Other Fields of Engineering 171
Design of Cardiovascular and Musculoskeletal Devices from Concept to Product 171
Introduction 171
Background: Vascular Structures 172
Vessel Anatomy and Blood Flow 172
Vessel Wall 172
Blood Flow 172
Cardiovascular Devices 174
Design of Cardiovascular Devices 176
Human Factor Engineering 177
Design in Software Engineering 178
Control System Design 179
Design in Electrical Engineering 180
Design in Chemical Engineering 181
Appendix: Design Definitions and Terminology 183
References 199
Index 203
About the Author :
Alexei Morozov, P.Eng., Ph.D., is an Academic Associate in the Faculty of Engineering at McGill University. He’s a Design Engineer at the NSERC Chair in Design Engineering for Interdisciplinary Innovation of Medical Technologies in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has 40 years of experience working in R&D and advising in various innovative robotic, mechanical, and interdisciplinary engineering projects, and more than 20 years in teaching Design Graphics, Conceptual Design, Inter-Disciplinary Design, Capstone Design, and Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Drivetrain Design courses.
Rosaire Mongrain, P.Eng., Ph.D., is a full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, Canadian NSERC chair in Design Engineering. His principal research aims at the design, development, and evaluation of medical devices using numerical and experimental methods. He has taught design courses including Conceptual Design, Machine Elements Design, Inter-Disciplinary Design, and the Capstone Course for more than 25 years.
Mark Driscoll, P.Eng., Ph.D., is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, Canadian NSERC chair in Design Engineering, and Chwang-Seto Faculty Scholar. He is an experienced engineer, expert in spine biomechanics, with in-depth background in innovation and product development. He has successfully taken several novel medical devices to market in industrial and academic settings and shares this knowledge as a design curriculum professor.
Peter Radziszewski, P.Eng., Ph.D., former Associate Professor in engineering design at McGill University, pursued R&D and teaching activities in design and mineral processing. Joining Metso in 2012 as VP Solutions Offering Development, his conceptual design efforts encompassed mineral process equipment, wear, and consumables. 2021 saw him join Rampart Detection Systems as VP of Research & Innovation, where he worked on electric and magnetic field sensor applications in the mining industry.
Benoit Boulet, P.Eng., Ph.D., FCAE, is a full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University, the Chwang-Seto Engine Faculty Scholar, and co-founding Director of the McGill Engine technological innovation centre. He currently serves as McGill’s Associate Vice-President (Innovation and Partnerships). Professor Boulet is a former director and current member of McGill’s Centre for Intelligent Machines where he heads the Intelligent Automation Laboratory.
