Active Learning in a Second Year Machine Design Programme at Singapore Polytechnic's School of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering

In this economy of high demand for fast advancement of technology, engineering students are being tasked to learn and develop skill-sets that are readily called for in industry. This paper presents the development of a new course which was designed to equip students with the basic skills to design and build a working industrial machine through an active and experiential approach using CDIO.

In the first year of its programme, students were introduced to Engineering through a project that required them to design and fabricate model racing cars. Building on the knowledge and skills learnt in the first year, a new course, Design and Build 1, was developed through the integration of two existing courses, Engineering Design (ED) and Computer-Aided Design (CAD). This new course is to provide second year students an opportunity to design and build a working industrial machine. The course was taught in 15 weeks through the weekly 6 hour block a day lesson. The curriculum was redesigned to include the various stages of machine design such as conceptualization of ideas into drawing, designing, building and commissioning of the intended machine.