The Virtual Manufacturing Environment as a Capstone for Systems and Industrial Engineering Undergraduates

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

Engineering - Other (59) Industrial and systems engineers go on to jobs that often involve the design and/or management of complex large-scale projects. Such projects require exceptional skills in knowledge integration, teamwork and decision-making. Unfortunately, there are few cost-effective ways for developing the necessary skills for working on projects of this scale and complexity. As a result, students rarely see more than unrealistically simplified problems and finish their undergraduate engineering education with a collection of disjoint tools, techniques and skills without the necessary experience to unify and integrate them. Engineering schools often use capstone classes with projects in industry to culminate undergraduate education. While this can be a valuable experience, students rarely get the kind of projects that integrate their technical skills. This project develops a different kind of capstone class: one that takes advantage of Active Learning, where the students are immersed in realistic experiences of designing and running a virtual manufacturing floor. The manufacturing environment consists of compiled documents, role-playing, and a software virtual floor. Unlike many other manufacturing simulations that concentrate on the details of the machines and products, this product focuses on the experience of designing and running fairly generic large-scale process projects. In this capstone project, the students draw on all of their engineering skills, apply them to a wide range of problems, and face the consequences of their decisions.