Conforming a New Manufacturing Engineering Curriculum to the SME Four Pillars

This paper will highlight the challenges in developing a manufacturing engineering curriculum that conforms to the SME four pillars based on the experiences of the Engineering and Design (ENGD) department at Western Washington University (WWU). These experiences are unique in a number of ways. Foremost, this program was created by transitioning an existing Manufacturing Engineering Technology (MET) program that included an option in CAD/CAM. As a result, the new program was designed to incorporate the strengths of this long established technology program. One of these is hands-on intensive lab experiences within courses that require students to utilize state-of-the-art CAD/CAM technology in support of fabrication activities. Examples of these include classes in Computer-Numerical Control and Mold Making. It was decided in consultation with local industry, that the preservation of these experiences within the new engineering curriculum was to remain a key part of the program’s and ENGD department’s mission. It was also viewed as a way of customizing the new engineering program to the needs of local and regional industry. This presented significant logistical challenges as the new programs also needed to be configured to satisfy ABET’s EAC criteria and program objectives, where design experiences are highly valued. The efforts and results of doing this will be described in this paper. Other unique aspects of these experiences that will be discussed in this paper include the impact of integration with other programs in the ENGD department, in particularly a new program in Plastics and Composites Engineering, the influence of the regional aerospace industry in shaping the curriculum particularly in the area of composites manufacturing, and the benefits and challenges of the liberal arts environment at WWU in broadening the experience of students. In addition to the ABET mandated one-year foundation in math and basic science, the new MFGE program has greater depth and breadth when compared to the MET program it has replaced. From the standpoint of the SME four pillars, most of the additional depth is in the areas of Materials and Manufacturing Processes and Product Tooling and Assembly Engineering, and there is a much stronger emphasis on composites manufacturing. Though these experiences are unique, they will be shown to add support to the recommendation made by Curriculum 2015 that the SME four pillars be followed in developing manufacturing engineering curricula.