Moving Towards Problem Based Learning (PBL): Some Initial Experiences at AUT University

A business case was first presented for the School of Engineering at AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand, to change the delivery schemes of all undergraduate degree programs towards a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, envisioning a raised institutional profile, improved completion rates, increased community or industry engagement, increased consultancy income, and improved staff retention. In preparation for the actual move towards PBL, a preliminary study was undertaken subsequently to consider issues such as staff training, resource development and risk factors. The role of a teacher as a facilitator and the educational philosophy behind it needed to be reviewed, in order to be able to formulate a staff development scheme. Curriculum and resource development aspects and the timeline for the implementation of PBL at AUT were also investigated and reported. This paper presents some of the highlighting features of this report

Improving Product Design through Rapid Prototype as Design

Design teams are often expected to produce physical prototypes that demonstrate the working principles of the products they are designing within tight time-frames. The use of a ‘rapid prototype as design’ (RPaD) methodology, combined with the ability to effectively integrate the many existing and emerging virtual and physical rapid prototyping technologies into the development process increases the potential of producing new high technology products in shorter timeframes. The paper presents a set of case study projects, undertaken by product design students at Auckland University of Technology, in which extensive use was made of RPa

Sustainable product design through additive manufacturing

The advent of additive manufacturing technologies presents a number of opportunities that have the potential to greatly benefit designers, and contribute to the sustainability of products. Additive manufacturing technologies have removed many of the manufacturing restrictions that may previously have compromised a designer’s ability to make the product they imagined, which can increase product desirability, pleasure and attachment. Products can also be extensively customized to the user thus, once again, potentially increasing their desirability, pleasure and attachment and therefore their longevity. As additive manufacturing technologies evolve the field of product design has the potential to greatly change. This paper examines additive manufacturing as a tool for the sustainable design of consumer product

Investigation of process parameter effect on anisotropic properties of 3D printed sand molds

The development of sand mold three-dimensional printing technologies enables the manufacturing of molds without the use of a physical model. However, the effects of the three-dimensional printing process parameters on the mold permeability and strength are not well known, leading the industries to keep old settings until castings have recurring defects. In the present work, the influence of these parameters was experimentally investigated to understand their effect on the mold strength and permeability. Cylindrical and barshaped test specimens were printed to perform, respectively, permeability and bending strength measurements. Experiments were designed to statistically quantify the individual and combined effect of these process parameters. While the binder quantity only affects the mold strength, increasing the recoater speed leads to both greater permeability and reduced strength due to the reduced sand compaction. Recommendations for optimizing some 3D printer settings are proposed to attain predefined mold properties and minimize the anisotropic behavior of the sand mold in regard to both the orientation and the position in the job box

Tools for sustainable product design: additive manufacturing

The advent of additive manufacturing technologies presents a number of opportunities that have the potential to greatly benefit designers, and contribute to the sustainability of products. Additive manufacturing technologies have removed many of the manufacturing restrictions that may previously have compromised a designer’s ability to make the product they imagined. Products can also be extensively customized to the user thus, once again, potentially increasing their desirability, pleasure and attachment and therefore their longevity. As additive manufacturing technologies evolve, and more new materials become available, and multiple material technologies are further developed, the field of product design has the potential to greatly change. This paper examines how aspects of additive manufacturing, from a sustainable design perspective, could become a useful tool in the arsenal to bring about the sustainable design of consumer products