READING ASSISTANT: HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH SYSTEMATIC DESIGN
Year: 2015
Editor: Guy Bingham, Darren Southee, John McCardle, Ahmed Kovacevic, Erik Bohemia, Brian Parkinson
Author: Hamarsheh, Khalid
Series: E&PDE
Institution: UAE University
Section: Bachelors, Masters and PhD in Design Engineering
Page(s): 330-335
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9
Abstract
‘Product Design, Development and Marketing’ is one of the key courses in the Engineering Management Program at UAE University. The course was aimed at enabling the students to fully comprehend the various stages of the design process and the interim outputs that are produced and needed to be produced in a systematic design process. Systematic design process with design models and methods was taught in lecture classes. A carefully chosen design and build project was undertaken to cement the learning. Reading Assistant, a tool assisting readers to have access to multiple open books with ease, was designed and built as part of the course. It followed a systematic design process consisting of five stages namely Requirements, Product Concept, Solution Concept, Embodiment and Detail Design. In the process customer requirements were recorded, specifications were drawn, alternative concepts were proposed and a preferred one was chosen, embodiment was developed and the detail design was completed. The design was analyzed and proven before its committal to manufacture. Manufacturing was considered at every stage of the design process. Several interim outputs were produced during the passage from idea to completion. The project described here is the work of one of the seven student groups from a class of 24 students. This reinforced the structured path that has been followed in the design and development of the product. The course has given a first hand experience in the systematic development of a product and taught a large number of theoretical and application lessons.
Keywords: Systematic design, design teaching, product development.