Experiential Manufacturing Machines
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Abstract
With the introduction of the new Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) bachelor in 2021 all courses underwent a revision to promote, amongst other, an autonomous learning attitude. The conventional approach of teaching engineering relied on direct instructions and problem-based learning and proved to be inadequate. With a short retention time and limited deeper concept understanding, students struggled to apply their engineering knowledge in capstone design projects. This project aims to develop new educational materials to align better with this new attitude.
The project is approached with a hands-on and iterative mindset. More than nine prototypes have been developed and tested with users. The result is a versatile educational toolkit that can be configured into small-scale manufacturing machines. Currently three configurations are developed, but due to its modular components more configurations can be added in the future. These machines provide students with hands-on experience related to manufacturing techniques and its opportunities, limitations, and materials. By being intriguing, exciting, versatile, and user-friendly, the machines stimulate active involvement. With a focus on producibility and cost-effectiveness, this toolkit is designed to integrate seamlessly into the IDE bachelor's program, offering an accessible, practical, and engaging learning resource that supports deeper concept understanding.