UTPA STEM/CBI Courses/Fundamentals of Product Design/Design Concept Generation

Course Title: Fundamentals of Product

Lecture Topic: Design Concept Generation

Instructor: Immanuel Edinbarough

Institution: UTRGV

Backwards Design

Course Objectives

• Primary Objectives- By the next class period students will be able to:
  • Understand the process of concept generation, where possible design solutions are first envisioned.
  • Use creative thinking to develop approaches to achieve design objectives while satisfying the constraints.

• Sub Objectives- The objectives will require that students be able to:
  • Develop their skills in creativity to conceive new engineering designs.
  • Learn to develop a designer mindset that is unconfined, uninhibited and open to new ideas.

• Difficulties- Students may have difficulty:
  • Understanding the meaning of creativity and the concept of creative thinking.
  • Identifying the barriers to creative thinking.

• Real-World Contexts- There are many ways that students can use this material in the real-world, such as:
  • Identifying an important problem that needs solution to the community.
  • The design new products and processes.

Model of Knowledge

• Concept Map
  • Problem Identification and Solving
    • Visualization of Problems and Solutions
    • Brain storming

• Content Priorities
  • Enduring Understanding
    • Develop an open and creative mind to problem formulation and arriving at solutions.
  • Important to Do and Know
    • Learn brainstorming techniques for concept generation
    • Practice the elements of Creative Process
    • Understand the barriers to creative thinking
  • Worth Being Familiar with
    • Stages of Product Design
    • Engineering communication, including the Computer Aided Design

Assessment of Learning

• Formative Assessment
  • Class Work (groups)
    • Solve design problems
  • Class Work (individual)
    • Solving puzzles
• Summative Assessment
  • In class exam over the lesson.
  • A Student group goes public by solving a problem on the white board.

Legacy Cycle

OBJECTIVE By the next class period, students will be able to:

• Understand the process of concept generation, where possible design solutions are first envisioned.
• Use creative thinking to develop approaches to achieve the design objectives while satisfying the constraints.

The objectives will require that students be able to:

• Develop their skills in creativity to conceive new engineering designs.
• Learn to develop a designer mindset that is unconfined, uninhibited and open to new ideas.

THE CHALLENGE

It is a picnic time at a scenic park in a remote location. Assume that one of you have dropped a ping-pong ball (1.50”), in a steel pipe embedded in the concrete floor of a bare room as shown below. The inside diameter is 0.06” larger than the diameter of the ball, which is resting at the bottom of the pipe. You are one of the six people on the picnic team.

Ball dropped in Pipe.

Develop five distinct preliminary designs for getting the ball out of the pipe without damaging the ball, tube, or floor.

GENERATE IDEAS

• Student teams brainstorm for solutions. The teams should follow the rules of brainstorming and generate as many design concepts as possible within 15 min.
• Among the many concepts generated, they should select five concepts that will have a higher chance of success.

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES

The students work in small groups for 30 min and come up with ideas.

RESEARCH & REVISE

• The teacher engages the class in evaluating the design concepts and ranks them in the order of plausible success.
• The teacher highlights the importance of overcoming cultural, environmental, intellectual and emotional blocks to creative thinking.

TEST YOUR METTLE

Students are given an assignment to solve an engineering design problem by using the skills that they have learned in creative thinking.

GO PUBLIC

Student groups will work on separate design projects to find engineering solutions for real world problems.

Pre-Lesson Quiz

Students will be assessed for this project based on the previous topic taught in the class.

Test Your Mettle Quiz

Various material can be tested here, depending on time constraints. The material can also be combined with other material in a mid-term or final examination.

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