Engineering design and education: A case study on designing a competition fuel efficient vehicle through experiential learning

Abstract

Engineering design involves a series of steps that lead to the creation of a product, a system, or a service to meet desired needs. The design and creation of innovative solutions to challenging engineering design problems require young engineers to be immersed in an education environment which challenges and nurtures the thought process and provides the necessary hands-on experience in design. There is increasing convergence in opinions that problem-based and experiential learning should be more integrated with the science-based engineering programs. Experiential learning is the key to engaging students to learn effectively. This paper describes an experiential learning experience for a group of undergraduate students in National University of Singapore (NUS) to design a competition fuel efficient vehicle. The students started with engineering design process and went through a series of steps to design, manufacture, assemble, test and compete in a specifically built prototype urban concept car for the competition with the experiential learning experience. Components of the competition vehicle, from chassis to diminutive parts, such as wheel uprights and motor mounts, have been carefully designed, properly analyzed and fabricated in a teamwork environment. The result is a futuristic fuel efficient urban concept car that won many awards in the competition. The team also took the initiative to promote eco-friendliness and raise awareness with the design of fuel efficient car to battle environmental issues like climate change, pollution, and energy crisis. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.