The Newcomen Pumping Engine: A Capstone Design Project

The purpose of this article is to describe the undergraduate mechanical engineering capstone design project of building an operating and instrumented scale model Newcomen Engine. Thomas Newcomen built the first successful steam engine in 1712. His design was built in large numbers from 1712 until about the 1820s and continued to be used until about 1930. Today’s engineering students should be aware of this significant historical development as part of their education. The design project described in this article is an excellent capstone design project that integrates fundamental knowledge of mechanical engineering with historical perspectives.