Topics Covered

• Teamwork
• Brainstorming and Creativity
• Engineering Design
• Machining Processes
• Manufacturing Processes
• Project Management

General Information

This course provides students the opportunity to work in an environment which closely simulates a real workplace environment. The students will work in groups composed of three to four members from diverse backgrounds, with diverse skills and capabilities. The projects are devised by the faculty or the industry and assigned to the students in the first week of the fall semester. Each group will carry-out a set of project phases from a brainstorming phase to product fabrication and testing phase.

Brainstorming Phase

Within the first few weeks after the starting of the semester, by a date specified by the instructor toward the end of September, each group will submit a proposal report about its assigned senior design project and give an internal oral presentation. The report and the oral presentation feature the outcomes of the brainstorming sessions done by the group during the aforementioned period and articulate the adopted project design concepts.

Preliminary Design Calculations and Drawings for Parts and Assemblies

Based on the design concept outlined in the previous phase a defined set of preliminary design calculations and drawings for parts and assemblies are required for this step. By a date specified by the instructor toward the beginning of November, each group through an oral presentation will present and submit to the instructor a draft set of the preliminary design calculations and drawings for parts and assemblies.

Final Draft Proposal Report with Budget, Quotes, and Timeline

Toward the end of the semester, each group will submit a final major draft proposal report containing the final design, calculations, drawings for parts and assemblies with budget, quotes, realization timeline, references, and appendices. The instructor will review the draft proposal report, write his own final recommendations for the final report, and turn it to the students. A general template of the report will be sent to the students as guidance report.

Guidelines for the Students

1. The instructor in charge of the student group is there to guide the students, advise them and supervise them. The instructor is not there to do the students’ work. The instructor expects the students to behave professionally and ethically throughout the duration of the project. Any student caught misbehaving in class, using foul language, making derogatory remarks in writing through emails or verbally in class may be dismissed from it. A complete dismissal from class for the reminder of the semester may occur if the offenses made by the student are considered very serious by the instructor. Not attending or arriving late to scheduled lectures, labs, and meetings may cost the student the full attitude & absenteeism & participation & sharing knowledge with teammates and instructor & ethics grade, which is 20% of the total grade.

1. It is brought to the attention of the student that the deliverable might change, depending on the project advancement, and/or encountered difficulties and problems during the project.

1. It is brought to the attention of the students that each one of them is expressly required to participate in all internal, external, partials, and finals senior design presentations.

1. It is brought to the attention of the students that any changes in the project design and drawings discussed with other faculty members, engineers and technicians from sponsoring company, the department machinist technician, and the department lab technician must be reported immediately to the instructor in charge of the group who will decide on whether to adopt these changes or not.

1. It is brought to the attention of the students that each final drawing of a machine part has to have the approved signature of the instructor in charge of the group.

6.     It is brought to the attention of the students that each purchase of a machine part has to have the approved signature of the chair of the department, the instructor in charge of the group, the machinist, and the purchaser. The three signatures as well as the current budget have to be clearly shown on any purchase request. The purchase has to stay within the allowed budget which is $2,000/group.

Lecture, Homework, Exams, and Laboratory

This course consists of a one-mandatory lecture hour and four mandatory hour’s laboratory design sessions per week. The one-hour lecture session includes an instructor talk about the topics listed above and sometimes a short discussion about the projects progression (weekly lab assignments, difficulties, needs, and issues encountered). The lab time will be spent by the groups working on their projects on their own and under the supervision of their instructor and when needed the machinist technician. The students are required to attend the whole lab session each Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 5:50 pm, and wait for their turn to meet with their instructor. It is brought to the attention of the students that the lab-time is not sufficient to complete all the required weekly tasks. The students have to manage their own study schedule and find time to complete all required tasks. In this first semester the students are required to submit their final proposal report, and their final proposal presentation with all the required deliverables specified in the project personal requirement sheet. If the material submitted by the students is partial, imperfect, and unfinished, the students will receive an incomplete grade (I) for the current semester, and will be required to complete the project in the following weeks.

Besides the weekly labs assignments, there will be a set of assigned homework as deemed appropriate by the instructor and a final exam on the lecture materials at the end of the semester. The students are required to upload the homework to a D2L Dropbox in PDF or Microsoft Word format. The solutions of the homework should be written using the posted homework template, organized with the appropriate questions numbering, and neatly written. Homework solutions should be submitted with the posted homework questions sheet as a cover page for the whole homework submission. Homework have to be turned in on the due date specified on the homework question sheet. Late homework will still be accepted till the end of the semester and graded with a maximum grade of 50% of the normal grade 100%.

The exam will be in-person (face-to-face) exam and based on the materials studied during the class lecture. The homework and the mandatory written exam count for 15% of the total course grade. The solutions of the exam should be written on the handed answering sheets. You are expected to take the exam on the scheduled date and given time. There will be no make-up final exam given anytime toward the end of the semester.

Weekly Progress Reports and Logbook

Each group member is responsible for keeping a logbook containing a list of all the activities performed during the current week.  This logbook is used by the student to draft his/her weekly progress report. The weekly progress report must be turned-in the form of a document stack containing a list of the current weekly activities, a list of technical documents, a list of drawings, a list of calculations, and a copy of the log book. The list of documents may contain mechanical components technical or specification sheets, technical papers, electrical schematic, etc…). Any drawings done with SolidWorks or other software on a weekly basis has to be saved on a memory key and given to the instructor at the end of the semester. Any other document has to be also saved on the memory key and given to the instructor towards the end of the semester.

The weekly progress reports will be reviewed and returned to the students by the instructor on a weekly basis.

Weekly progress reports count for 15% of the total grade. The students are required to upload the weekly progress report to a D2L Dropbox in PDF or Microsoft Word format. The weekly reports should have the posted required cover page. They should be neatly written, well organized with appropriate paragraph and document numbering. Weekly report should be uploaded to a D2L Dropbox weekly before the beginning of the lab session. The maximum grade for the submitted weekly report on the due date is 100%. Late weekly reports will still be accepted till the end of the semester and graded with a maximum grade of 50%. Each group member is responsible for submitting his/her weekly progress report.

Peer Evaluation

The instructor will conduct two peer evaluations during the semester. One in the middle of the semester and one at the end of the semester. Each group member will be asked to grade honestly his/her group peers based on his/her performance and commitment to the project during the fall semester. The peer evaluation counts for 10% of the total student grade. The peer evaluations should be uploaded to a D2L Dropbox at the request of the main instructor.

Attitude, Absenteeism, Participation, Sharing Knowledge, and Ethics

The attitude, absenteeism, participation, sharing knowledge with teammates and instructor, and ethical behavior of each member of the group is going to be assessed throughout the semester by the instructor. The assigned grade will be based on class behavior, absenteeism, tasks achieved on time, punctuality, language, willingness to work and share knowledge with team members, instructor, and machinist technician, appropriate ethical behavior, and more as deemed appropriate by the instructor. The general attitude, absenteeism, participation, sharing knowledge with teammates and instructor, and ethical behavior of the student count for 15% of the total grade.

Public Presentations & Paper Publication & Poster

It is brought to the attention of the students that each one of them is expressly required to participate in in three of following university activities throughout the two senior design semesters: University Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum (fall 2021 and spring 2022), North Texas Area Students Conference (NTASC, spring 2022), Counsel of Undergraduate Research (CUR, spring 2022), IdeaMSU (spring 2022), Writing Conference Papers, etc... The students are required to start preparing for these activities in the fall semester (draft poster, draft oral presentation, draft paper, etc…). The participation in these activities counts for 10% of the total grade for each semester.

Final Oral Exam

The group is required to give a fifteen-minute oral presentation before a panel composed of the department faculty in charge of the senior design labs. After the presentation, each group member will be asked to answer a series of questions posed by the panel regarding the project materials. The oral presentation and oral exam are scheduled December 1, 2021. All final oral presentations should be uploaded to a D2L Dropbox folder set by the main instructor. The oral presentation and the oral exam count for 20% of the total student final grade.

Final Project Report

Toward the end of the semester, on November 23, 2021, each group will submit a final major draft proposal report containing the final design, calculations, drawings for parts and assemblies with budget, quotes, realization timeline, references, and appendices. The instructor will review the draft proposal report, write his own recommendations for the final report, and turn it to the students.  The students are required to submit the final written proposal report by December 1, 2021. All final reports should be uploaded to a D2L Dropbox folder set by the main instructor. While a working prototype of the design is due by the end of the academic year (May 2022), each group is required this fall semester to produce and show a computer based design (2-D drawings, and 3-D drawings) and simulation of different (stress, flow, frequency, fatigue, etc.) solutions of its assigned project. Note: while many software tools can be used to develop a computer simulation, the most desirable ones are SolidWorks and ANSYS, since these software are available in almost every computer in the McCoy School of Engineering. Also the report has to address all the requirements specified in the handout personal sheet distributed by the instructor at the beginning of the semester for each student. The report counts for 15% of the total final student grade.

Course Grades

Course grades are based on the following items and summarized in the grading form, with the relative % weighting shown below:

Graded Items

Percentage Assigned to Items

Lecture Materials Exams and Homework - 15%

Weekly Progress Report & Log books - 15%

Peer Evaluation - 10%

Attitude & Absenteeism & Participation

& Tasks Achieved on Time

& Sharing Knowledge with Teammates and Instructor & Ethics - 15%

Public Presentations & Paper Publication & Posters - 10%

Final Proposal Report - 15%

Final Proposal Presentation & Oral Exam - 20%

Total maximum Grade - 100%

The scale below will be used to assign final course grades:

Value Range of X (in %)

89.5 ≤ X ≤ 100 - A

79.5 ≤ X < 89.5 - B

69.5 ≤ X < 79.5 - C

59.5 ≤ X < 69.5 - D

< 59.5 - F

The students are required to attend the whole lab session each Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 5:50 pm, and wait for their turn to meet with their instructor. It is brought to the attention of the students that the lab-time is not sufficient to complete all the required weekly tasks. The students have to manage their own study schedule and find time to complete all required tasks.

Weekly report should be uploaded to a D2L Dropbox weekly before the beginning of the lab session. The maximum grade for the submitted weekly report on the due date is 100%. Late weekly reports will still be accepted till the end of the semester and graded with a maximum grade of 50%.

Note: You may not submit a paper for a grade in this class that already has been (or will be) submitted for a grade in another course, unless you obtain the explicit written permission of me and the other instructor involved in advance.

Plagiarism is the use of someone else's thoughts, words, ideas, or lines of argument in your own work without appropriate documentation (a parenthetical citation at the end and a listing in "Works Cited")-whether you use that material in a quote, paraphrase, or summary. It is a theft of intellectual property and will not be tolerated, whether intentional or not.

Student Honor Creed

As an MSU Student, I pledge not to lie, cheat, steal, or help anyone else do so."

As students at MSU, we recognize that any great society must be composed of empowered, responsible citizens. We also recognize universities play an important role in helping mold these responsible citizens. We believe students themselves play an important part in developing responsible citizenship by maintaining a community where integrity and honorable character are the norm, not the exception.

Thus, We, the Students of Midwestern State University, resolve to uphold the honor of the University by affirming our commitment to complete academic honesty. We resolve not only to be honest but also to hold our peers accountable for complete honesty in all university matters.

We consider it dishonest to ask for, give, or receive help in examinations or quizzes, to use any unauthorized material in examinations, or to present, as one's own, work or ideas which are not entirely one's own. We recognize that any instructor has the right to expect that all student work is honest, original work. We accept and acknowledge that responsibility for lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty fundamentally rests within each individual student.

We expect of ourselves academic integrity, personal professionalism, and ethical character. We appreciate steps taken by University officials to protect the honor of the University against any who would disgrace the MSU student body by violating the spirit of this creed.

Written and adopted by the 2002-2003 MSU Student Senate.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Disability Support Services in Room 168 of the Clark Student Center, (940) 397-4140.

The professor considers this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect as a human being - regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, political beliefs, age, or ability. Additionally, diversity of thought is appreciated and encouraged, provided you can agree to disagree. It is the professor's expectation that ALL students consider the classroom a safe environment.

All instructors in the Department have voicemail in their offices and MSUTexas e-mail addresses. Make sure you add your instructor's phone number and e-mail address to both email and cell phone lists of contacts.

Obligation to Report Sex Discrimination under State and Federal Law

Midwestern State University is committed to providing and strengthening an educational, working, and living environment where students, faculty, staff, and visitors are free from sex discrimination of any kind. State and federal law require University employees to report sex discrimination and sexual misconduct to the University’s Office of Title IX. As a faculty member, I am required to report to the Title IX Coordinator any allegations, personally observed behavior, or other direct or indirect knowledge of conduct that reasonably may constitute sex discrimination or sexual misconduct, which includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence, or stalking, involving a student or employee. After a report is made, the office of Title IX will reach out to the affected student or employee in an effort to connect such person(s) with resources and options in addressing the allegations made in the report. You are also encouraged to report any incidents to the office of Title IX. You may do so by contacting:

Laura Hetrick

Title IX Coordinator
Sunwatcher Village Clubhouse
940-397-4213

laura.hetrick@msutexas.edu

You may also file an online report 24/7 at Maxient 

Should you wish to visit with someone about your experience in confidence, you may contact the MSU Counseling Center at 940-397-4618. For more information on the University’s policy on Title IX or sexual misconduct, please visit MSU Texas Title IX

Senate Bill 11 passed by the 84th Texas Legislature allows licensed handgun holders to carry concealed handguns on campus, effective August 1, 2016. Areas excluded from concealed carry are appropriately marked, in accordance with state law. For more information regarding campus carry, please refer to the University’s webpage at https://msutexas.edu/campus-carry/rules-policies.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact MSU Chief of Police at police@msutexas.edu.