Teaching Hands-On Manufacturing Technology Fundamentals to ME Students at Local Community Colleges

Some Mechanical Engineering departments in the United States currently do not have enough money to support and sustain modern machine shops, composite lay-up rooms, or welding laboratories within their program.Such shops are essential for new mechanical engineering graduates to understand first hand the issues involved in prototyping and product development.These laboratories are expensive to set up and even more expensive to maintain and staff with well-qualified technicians.At Wichita State University (WSU) we have worked out a plan that enables our students to use the laboratories at one of the local community colleges called the Wichita Area Technical College (WATC).In this agreement the students are provided first hand exposure to manufacturing techniques such as machining, welding, and composite blue print reading / fabrication, among other laboratory exercises.The laboratory sessions are taught by WATC instructors with extensive background and training dedicated to the various manufacturing areas.Students will be expected to attend and participate in a Mechanical Engineering seminar series that will expose them to topics such as Ethics, Safety, Environmental Issues, Global Collaboration, Energy Conservation, Entrepreneurial Aspects of Engineering, Engineering Professionalism, Sustainability, Manufacturability, Project Management, and other topics of professional interest and use.Furthermore, students will have opportunities to work as a team on faculty's research project or a creative project of their own.These hand-on opportunities will give Mechanical Engineering students a more insightful appreciation for manufacturing capabilities and limitations, and permit them to coordinate more effectively with engineering technologists to create more competitive products in the world economy.