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<\/a>\u201cThe students then present their projects, concepts, and their development to a team of engineers,\u201d says Stephen. \u201cThey have a half hour to do that, and they earn 10 percent of their grade. They then go on to the showcase, where they demonstrate to the public. I find I\u2019m getting better at assessing the students\u2019 abilities and can understand more how to direct them towards success.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, Stephen says that for the past few years the students of the program have been making incredibly impressive inventions, some of which Victorians may have already heard about or even seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few projects that just hit the news,\u201d says Stephen. \u201cWe made a brand new coffee grinder for 2% Jazz coffee that went through patenting processes, and a beer vending machine for Phillips Brewery that\u2019s just been installed into their storefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
These capstone projects are unique in the world of mechanical engineering, according to Stephen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are other college-level engineering schools that do encourage capstone design,\u201d says Stephen, \u201cbut some of them have it theory only, so as long as the students can draw it then it\u2019s the end of the project. We actually require our students to build it, prove that it works, test it, and then present it. No other school makes their students defend their designs in front of an industry panel of engineers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The projects are an excellent way for the students to find out that theory doesn\u2019t always line up with reality, says Stephen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve spent two years studying the academia side of engineering and the theory,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not until they actually try to apply it that they realize what it takes to physically build something, to invent and use parts that can actually be manufactured, and apply the physics concepts that they have learned in a way that actually works. Essentially, they get a massive appreciation for the creative process because they start from zero and they have to create something. The process of creative development is such an important skill and they really, really get a good dose of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second-year Mechanical Engineering student Keith Jacobsen is part of Savvy Cabinets, the team who will present their secret-passageway project in the showcase. Jacobsen has found the process to be very enlightening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty complicated project,\u201d says Jacobsen, \u201cinsofar as there\u2019s a lot of artsy components. It looks very simple and it should seem very simple when you first approach it, but in order to make it appear as simple as it does, it\u2019s a fairly complicated design.\u201d<\/p>\n
It turns out that frequent aesthetic changes make for a lot of work when it comes to moving mechanical parts, as Jacobsen explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest problem of our design has been an iterative issue,\u201d says Jacobsen. \u201cWe would design an aesthetic of the bookcase and then design some hinges that would be able to activate this thing. Then we would show it to the client and the client would change something, so we would have to go back and redesign the aesthetic, which would make us have to redesign the hinges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The take-away message from this project, according to Jacobsen, is that classroom learning isn\u2019t everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t tell you about the price ranges of components in the classroom,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it\u2019s really nice to learn the real-world applications of what we\u2019ve learned for the past two years.\u201d<\/p>\n