Team Design Projects

Tulane University Department of Biomedical Engineering
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BMEN 403-404 Team Design Projects I and II

2 (fall), 3 (spring) credit hours;  Instructor:  D. A. Rice,
Ph.D., P.E.  rice@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu

Catalog Description:
Techniques and experience in the solution of constrained and open-ended design problems. Lecture topics include the design process, including goal setting, idea generation, prototyping, fabrication, and product and evaluation. Also included are technical presentation, project planning and management. Included as needed are other topics such as standards, fastening and joining, motors and control, esthetics and finish. Each team will design and construct a device or system to assist an individual with a disability. These designs are presented in a public show during the second semester.

Course Objectives:
This course is a "capstone" design course whose purpose is to integrate program coursework and to provide hands-on experience with real problems. The educational objectives for this course include:

Developing skills and techniques to apply course content knowledge to problems that are ill defined and open ended.
Developing skills and techniques of locating and evaluating information that is needed. These include estimation, ideation, and computational approaches.
Developing an appreciation of the design process, and skills necessary to implement it. These include identification and evaluation of alternatives as well as methods of project management.
Developing the skills to work effectively as a member or leader of a project team.
Developing an appreciation of the needs of a customer or client and the ability to communicate effectively with a customer

Some specific content areas that assist with these objectives are:

Principles of project management including allocation of resources, documentation, division of labor, Gantt and CPM techniques, and management and evaluation of personnel.
Applications of physical laws to the design of electrical and mechanical mechanisms.

Lecture topics include

Definitions: team; design; project
Problem Solving
formal methods
alternatives: identifying, ranking
ideation methods
engineering estimation
The engineering design process
Human interface: models, visibility,
mapping, evaluation
errors, mistakes, slips
Americans with Disability Act
Living with disability
Talking to and about people with disability
Proposal preparation
Project management
Critical Path Method
Gantt charts
resource levelling
personnel evaluation
documentation
Computer Aided Design
geometric assembly, interferences
stress, strain, deflection analysis
Shop/construction
drawing to communicate
machining & methods of manufacture
personnel safety
assembly methods
fastener specification
Patient labels
FDA guidance
inclusion, exclusion criteria
format and presentation
readability
Intellectual Property
ABET Criterion 3, 4, and more Objectives applicable to this course are here. This document summarizes how the course meets ABET criteria.

Course Requirements:
This course requires effective participation in both classwork and teamwork. Grades are based on performance as a team member, a team leader, class participation, and on individual work.

Grading
Grading of this two semester course is IP (in progress) for the fall semester of this year-long course with the final spring grade being applied to both semesters. The distribution approximates 30% individual (assignments + tests) and 70% team grades.

Late assignments will be derated 10% per day, and all assignments must be completed to pass the course.

Textbooks
THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS, Donald Norman ISBN 978-0-465-06710-7 or ISBN 0-465-06709-3
Design concepts for Engineers, Horenstein, Mark N. ISBN 0-13-146499-X