Engineering education

This paper reports about project-based learning activities carried out within the course of Design of Automatic Machines at the University of Genova. This didactic experience, provided to the students enrolled in the second-level degree in Mechanical Engineering, aims at providing the knowledge of those methods and tools required to optimally design functional parts of automatic machines, here including the mechanical architecture and the actuation subsystem. Lecture hours are equally devoted to the introduction of theoretical concepts and to lab exercises, which leverage on the extensive and advanced use of dedicated CAD/CAE software tools (i.e. PTC Creo). In particular, the projects are related to the in-depth study of automated packaging systems, initial (sub-optimal) design solutions being provided by an industrial partner with years of practice in the sector. After a description of the educational goals, the presentation discusses the phases of the activity and the main methodological aspects. In addition, the adopted tools for the design and simulation of the developed systems are discussed in detail.

Keywords: CAD-based shape optimization , CAD/CAE tools , Design parametrization

Environmental noise has been increasing day by day and this leads to serious health problems. European Union Environment Action Programme committed to decrease noise pollution, moving closer to levels recommended by World Health Organization by 2020. One of the key legislative instruments for achieving this is Environmental Noise Directive (END). European Commission Report on Evaluation of END published in 2016 highlighted the variances across Europe in terms of implementation of national strategies for environmental noise management (ENM). These variances in terms of practice and approaches to training bring the need for greater knowledge and practice exchange with using innovative developments. This is the primary focus of “Noise Training Project (NTP)” financed by EC under Erasmus+ Program. The main objective of NTP is to promote vocational skills of technical and administrative staff working on ENM. Within the project's scope, a survey was performed to analyse staff's perception regarding their training needs and training courses they have previously attended to. In this extent, a new curriculum focusing on environmental noise will be developed. The comparative analysis on ENM applications between project partner countries will also be introduced. In this article, the main structure of the project, its objectives and progresses are presented.

Keywords: Environmental noise , Qualifications , Training

One of the main goal of the LIFE MONZA project, which started in September 2016, is to reduce the average noise levels present in the Libertà district by means of both top-down (creation of a limited traffic zone to forbid the access to trucks, limitation of vehicles speed, lanes-width reduction and pedestrian crossing introduction, substitution of the current asphalt with a silent one) and encouraged bottom up actions (people involvement, ideas contest among students, pedibus service, etc). In this paper, first results of activities carried out in the mentioned pilot area of Life Monza project are illustrated.

Keywords: Environmental noise , Low cost sensors , Low noise paving , Noise management , Noise monitoring

The main objective of LIFE MONZA (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management) concerns an easy-replicable method for the identification and management of the Noise Low Emission Zones, urban areas subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benefits regarding noise issues are testing in the pilot area of the city of Monza, located in North Italy. Noise LEZ has been introduced in Libertà district, by top-down actions (infrastructural interventions) and encouraging an active involvement of the people, in the definition of a more sustainable lifestyle (bottom-up actions). Monitoring activities in pilot area regarding noise, air quality and the wellbeing conditions of the citizens have been carried out, and they are still ongoing, before and after the Noise LEZ implementation and the available results are described in this paper, in order to discuss and to evaluate the main effects of Noise LEZ introduction in urban planning and in lifestyle of the inhabitants.

Keywords: Noise Low Emission Zone , Noise monitoring sensors , Noise urban planning

Motivations for the research activity on teaching methods could be listed as: Institutional duty; reduction of evaluation costs; establishing convenient relationships between teaching, research and publications; developing educational programs for non-academic learners; consolidating learning outcomes. Teaching is the most commonly recognized mission of university, and evaluation has a cost in terms of time and resources, both precious: At least a portion of the exam, the one concerning factual knowledge, may be done in economies of scale. The most of basic technical drawing teachers works with very large classes and faces the dilemma of choosing what to sacrifice among teaching quality, research projects, earning opportunities, personal interests, etc. A possible partial solution to such a dilemma is to work on projects aimed at teaching innovation, so to create convenient relationships between teaching, research and publications. A further consequence of lowering the cost of evaluation would be to make cost effective a more tests and, consequently, to achieve less temporary learning. Not just simple notions but also skills and abilities. In this paper the authors presents a structured synthesis of teaching innovation experiences of a ten-year span. Over time, they were divided into four integrated directions: definition of prerequisites, expected outcome evaluation grids; authentic assessment methods; teaching and learning tools.

Keywords: Design methods , Engineering education , Learning techniques , Technical drawing

This paper aims at assessing the impact of inventive design education on students attending a class on Methods and Tools for Systematic Innovation. The study stems from the difficulty to understand how much personal inventive talent influences the final evaluation, especially in a context where students are asked to solve open problems, as conceptual design ones. To overcome the potential bias due to the individual talent, the authors propose to determine the impact of their teaching activity by means of an ex-ante/ex-post correlation analysis. Several cohorts of students along the years have been asked to solve some design problems at the beginning of the course, when no topics have been thought yet. An adapted creativity metrics enriched to map course contents measures the students' performance at the beginning ot the class (ex-ante). These results get correlated to the students' final grades (ex-post) in order to highlight areas where teaching has a stronger impact and those where talent remains predominant.

Keywords: Conceptual design , Creativity , Design education

Magika is an interactive Multisensory Environment that enables new forms of playful interventions for children, especially those with Special Education Needs. Designed in cooperation with more than 30 specialists at local care centers and primary schools, Magika integrates digital worlds projected on the wall and the floor with a gamut of "smart" physical objects (toys, ambient lights, materials, and various connected appliances) to enable tactile, auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. The room is connected with an interface for educators that enables them to: control the level of stimuli and their progression; define and share a countless number of game-based learning activities; customize such activities to the evolving needs of each child. This paper describes Magika and discusses its potential benefits for play, education and inclusion.

Keywords: Children , Education , Inclusion , Multisensory Environments , Play , Special Education Needs

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a potentially revolutionary technique in industry with claims of high skills shortage in the recent days. It is assumed that full exploitation of AM capabilities can be made possible by a paradigm shift steered by engineering design. Future generations of engineers might benefit from Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), which targets AM potential and enables design freedoms. In this context, the paper investigates AM education for a better understanding of the main AM-related subjects taught in universities. To this scope, the authors gathered 52 syllabi of courses taught in highly-ranked technical universities worldwide that relate to AM. From the investigation, it emerges that AM is the core discipline of the course in 42 out of 52 cases and considered widely as an independent domain to date. As for taught subjects, it was found that design aspects in AM and DfAM are poorly focused on, while manufacturing and process areas are the most popular. This poses a challenge especially to the design community, as the current situation might limit the exploitation of AM capabilities.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing , Computer Aided Design (CAD) , Design education , Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)

Student competitions can play an important role in education: they promote interest and engagement of the students, as well as of the teachers. In the case of engineering, one of the most challenging contests in Europe is the Motostudent event, joined by the University of Brescia (UniBS) in 2016 for the first time. It is a typical implementation of Kolb's theory of experiential learning, where engineering theory and application meet in an intensive, ‘hands-on' team work experience, resulting in a very effective learning process that involves the so-called soft skills as well. The paper aims at briefly reviewing the scope of competitions like the Formula SAE and sharing the authors' experience in a similar event, the Motostudent contest.

Keywords: engineering education , Experiential learning , Formula SAE , motorbike design , Motostudent , student design competitions

The paper presents an integrated approach to suspension design with educational purposes. A dedicated design tool was created to instruct automotive engineering students in the whole process of suspension design across the various CAE tools involved, from early kinematics studies to CAD, vehicle dynamics simulations and FEM modelling. The tool has given birth to a proven design procedure that the authors would like to share in this paper with focus on the educational side, although suspension kinematics design is not certainly a novel subject in itself. The tool includes geometries like the widely used McPherson strut, complex five-link schemes for high-end road cars, and typical racing car geometries like the so-called push/pull rod systems used on Formula 1 and Le Mans racecars. It has been applied successfully to various projects developed by professionals as well as by students, including the latest three Formula SAE (FSAE) single-seaters of the University of Brescia (Brescia, Italy) team. The paper is structured as follows. The introduction describes the role student design competitions play in higher engineering education, and within the frame of the Automotive Engineering course at UniBS in particular. A selection of relevant bibliography on the topic is listed. The Educational scenario section deals with the specific case of the Automotive Engineering course at UniBS and the requirements posed by student competitions, also in the frame of the Dublin Descriptors, and shows how suspension design can play a pivot role in a FSAE project. The A tool for suspension kinematics: requirements, description, solution section presents the software tool in itself. The math underlying the user interface is outlined. Finally, the integration features towards other CAE tools are presented with the related advantages.

Keywords: Dublin Descriptors , engineering education , Software integration , suspension kinematics , vehicle design

In recent years, long distance learning has become more and more popular. Web based technologies, that allow the sharing of information in real time, as well as the development of Learning Management Systems, provide the required technological support to implement long distance courses. However, long distance learning is characterized by a completely different relationship between teacher and student, in respect to the traditional teaching approach. It is then important to understand if this difference can affect the students learning outcomes. In this paper the comparison is presented between the summative assessment of two separated groups of students, attending an engineering drawing course, that is part of the curriculum for the bachelor degree in mechanical engineering. One group attended the course in a traditional form, while the second group attended the course in remote. The aim of the study is to verify if significant differences exist between the two groups of students, in terms of learning outcome. The identification of such differences is the premise to develop appropriated teaching strategies, aimed to overcome possible deficiencies related to the teaching approach.

Keywords: Engineering drawing , Learning outcomes , Online teaching

Eco-design is a design paradigm aiming to the development of sustainable products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered an eco-design tool able to assess the product environmental performances through a life cycle perspective. However, LCA shows some limitations in industry's daily practice and cannot be considered a standard for implementing eco-design. The paper aims to describe the implementation of a novel eco-design teaching approach involving company's employees from different technical departments. LCA analysis of company's product portfolio allowed to create a specific eco-knowledge, used to train designers and engineers on this subject for the implementation of eco-design actions during the development of new products (espresso coffee machine). Results highlighted relevant learning outcomes and significant improvements in terms of environmental sustainability of a new product design.

Keywords: Eco-design , Eco-knowledge , LCA , Teaching

In this paper we report a study that aims to highlight the potentialities of the combined use of both digital and manipulative artefacts to construct and conceptualize mathematical meanings related to the notion of translation. The research hypothesis of our study is that, the alternating use of a digital and a manipulative artefact foster synergically the construction of mathematical meanings. Both the design and the analysis of data is framed by the Theory of Semiotic Mediation in a Vygotskijan perspective. The study involved a class of 20 students, aged 13–14, of a secondary school in the Apulia Region, Italy. Data collection of the study is based on student interaction transcriptions during experimental task execution, written answers to given questions, and finally the transcripts and video analysis of the collective discussions concluding each experimental cycle.

Keywords: Digital artefact , Interaction , Semiotic mediation , Synergy , Translation

Recent efforts to reform CAD education are aimed, among other things, at increasing the development of strategic knowledge and modeling skills within CAD competency. This requires better structured and more frequent assessment and feedback than can be achieved with current, mostly summative-based, techniques. Here, formative assessment and formative feedback appear to offer a viable solution. Unfortunately, within CAD education, dedicated techniques and tools are not yet available to support the implementation of formative assessment, and, in particular, to assist learning goal and outcome oriented assessment of CAD models produced by students. Moreover, those frameworks and tools for CAD model analysis and evaluation that are available and deployed within commercial and industrial settings cannot be directly used in educational settings, due to differences in assessment criteria and evaluation goal settings. The aim of the current paper is, firstly, to present a novel approach for surface model assessment in the educational context, which is based on deficiency analysis in relation to learning outcomes, and, secondly, to report on the implementation and application of a newly developed software tool to enable and put into practice this novel surface model assessment approach.

Keywords: Competency development , Formative feedback , Geometric CAD model usability , Reflection on performance and outcome , Strategic knowledge built-up

Transdisciplinary processes have been the subject of research since several decades already. Transdisciplinary processes are aimed at solving ill-defined and socially relevant problems. Many researchers have studied transdisciplinary processes and have tried to understand the essentials of transdisciplinarity. Many engineering problems can be characterised as ill-defined and socially relevant, too. Although transdisciplinary engineering cannot widely be found in the literature yet, a transdisciplinary approach is deemed relevant for many engineering problems. With this paper we aim to present an overview of the literature on research into transdisciplinary processes and investigate the relevance of a transdisciplinary approach in engineering domains. After a brief description of past research on transdisciplinarity, implications for engineering research, engineering practice, and engineering education are identified. In all three areas, the current situation is described, while challenges are identified that still exist. The paper ends with a research agenda for transdisciplinary engineering.

Keywords: Engineering education , Industry 4.0 , Project-based learning , Social relevance , Transdisciplinary collaboration , Transdisciplinary engineering , Transdisciplinary processes , Transdisciplinary research , Transdisciplinary systems

Design methods are claimed to support designers but, although they are largely taught in academia, their industrial uptake is still lacking. Many reasons have been identified about this flaw and some potential suggestions have been proposed and discussed in literature to overcome the problem. However, a further evidence is that although many students learn such methods from years, they partially or totally abandon the learned methods in their professional careers. This could partially explain the gap between academic and industrial diffusion of design methods. Literature provides suggestions for improving the learning experience of students but different didactical contexts may need more tailored solutions. The work shown in this paper exploits the problem solving potentialities of the TRIZ toolset to provide hints for improving a course focused on teaching a systematic conceptual design method. A set of suggestions has been obtained together some guidelines for applying the considered TRIZ tools to other didactical contexts.

Keywords: Creativity , Design education , Design learning , Design methods

Interactive learning experiences are becoming the standard for today's ‘tech-savvy' generation of students and an important issue for research in instructional technology. The design and implementation of higher education, incorporating interactive technologies, can be difficult and often requires high levels of design knowledge. Our intent is to assist researchers, instructors and designers in identifying an effective methodology to design interactive learning contents that use recent interactive technologies, in particular 360° video, and encourage greater student engagement. In this study, 360° videos have been designed and implemented in an engineering program but the design methodology we suggest can be apply in any industrial or educational context. Then, 360° videos have been evaluated by the students as highly immersive and engaged environments that surround them and offer them an increased sense of presence, giving them a 360-degree view of the environment. In this type of video, viewers no longer only look at a single screen, they can point the camera lens wherever they want, allowing viewers to watch the video from multiple perspectives (active), rather than only from the director's point of view (passive).

Keywords: 360° video , Engineering education , Student engagement , Virtual reality

This work presents the development of an integrated framework and related tools for innovation and improvement in the teaching of Technical Drawing. This framework is based on the “Technical Drawing Evaluation Grid—TDEG.” This grid is currently used, by the authors, for the definition and the development of different kinds of tools for supporting both teaching and learning and for the evaluation of Technical Drawing and engineering graphics topics knowledge in general. In particular, this paper focuses on the problems related to knowledge evaluation and assessment of Technical Drawing using online tests. Then, the LaMoo project which is a tool under development for the structured construction of questions for online tests in Moodle environment is presented.

Keywords: assessment methods , engineering education , Moodle test , teaching methods , technical drawing

The Taguchi method is widely employed in several fields to manage and improve processes. It is interesting that it could be used during product development, considering it as the basic element to quantify the uncertainty of the device performance prediction. During product design, when many design aspects still must be understood by the design team, it is necessary to apply interactive approaches in order to simulate the behaviour of the device, employing CAx tools. Basically it is important to identify the most suitable “loss function” that can be associated with the characteristic function. In order to plane the investigation, the device under development ought to be described in term of the Design Matrix of Axiomatic Design, allowing the designer to characterize the relationship among the functional requirements and the corresponding design parameters. The nature of this relationship, generally not known a priori, can be revealed by the employment of the Taguchi method, once a suitable Objective Function has been chosen and the noise factors are identified. Analysing the performance of a device in a simulation of its behaviour in several operational conditions allows designers to discover whether there are correspondences or contradictions among design parameters. This can be synthetically said a robust design process. In order to enhance these aspects a design of experiment must be planned. The weak point of the procedure consists in the correct choice of the function that characterizes the device behaviour. Considering the wide academic debate on this point, the paper proposes a unique Noise Reduction function to be used in conjunction with all types of “loss function”. The Design Matrix can be checked and its nature can suggest the validity of the product under development and discover contradiction. The paper discusses an interactive procedure able to integrate the Taguchi method and the axiomatic approach.

Keywords: Axiomatic design , Design matrix , Noise reduction , Robust design , Taguchi method