Mechanical Engineering Design Experience for Hispanic and Low Income Students

In 2011, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) received a grant from the Department of Education's Hispanic-Serving Institutions STEM program to boost the number of students who transfer from a community college and graduate with degrees in engineering and computer science. The program, known as the AIMS 2 (Attract, Inspire, Mentor, and Support Students) student support program, has three main objectives: (1) To increase the number of Hispanic and low income students who transfer from junior colleges (2) To increase the number of Hispanic and low income students who join the university as upper division transfers, and obtain degrees in a reasonable timeframe (3) To develop a sustainable model, for others to follow, that will result in a transfer program to service the students mentioned above [1]. In order for this program to succeed, it is necessary for articulation agreements to exist between universities and the junior colleges (JCs) that feed students to it. For students to transfer as upper division, freshman and sophomore classes must exist to allow for transfer in a reasonable time period, while meeting the strict requirements set forth by universities. With respect to Mechanical Engineering (ME), this includes a design component as each class within its design sequence now contains some level of design methodology. Because of the time needed to complete articulation, students currently in the support program who are ME students did not receive the necessary design component in certain classes taken at junior colleges. In order to make up for this deficiency, a summer-long design clinic was held for those students, and provided the necessary information required for complete integration into the ME design stem. This paper discusses the design experience. More specifically: Under the supervision of the support program advisor, a group of students was given the task of designing and manufacturing an intake manifold for an internal combustion engine. The students followed the standard design protocol of conceptual, preliminary, and critical design and presented their design through the review process. Upon completion, a wax-impregnated model was created using a Zcorp® rapid printer, from which a mold was made using the lost wax process. After burnout, an aluminum casting was poured with the result being a manifold in the as-cast form. Numerous machining operations followed which included complicated fourth-axis machining of various surfaces, as the manifold is a very complicated part. Ultimately, the students performed flow analysis on the P ge 23893.2 manifold which demonstrated an improved design, and provided their findings in final report form.