A team of three entrepreneurial students from Ohio State Marion’s Engineering 1182 – Fundamentals of Engineering II course, taught by Assistant Professor of Practice in Integrated System Engineering, Chandika Annasiwatta took first place in the Fundamentals of Engineering Design Showcase held on December 6 in the Physics Research Building on Columbus campus.
The annual competition held by Ohio State’s engineering education department included over 150 students from over 45 teams in 4 courses. The Ohio State Marion team included students Christopher Beaver, CAD exterior designer and project Manager; Othon De Assis CAD interior designer and product manufacturer; and Richard Lipp, software developer and quality control. The team was nominated from Ohio State Marion engineering 1182 autumn semester course.
Student teams completed a semester-long, open-ended, and user-centered design project. Each team was challenged to identify, research, and fully define a unique opportunity to create value and an associated engineering problem to solve. Teams then designed a solution to address the identified opportunity and build and test a prototype of their design using a variety of resources including SolidWorks, MATLAB, Arduino microcontrollers, machine shop tools, 3D printing, laser cutting, and more. Students were asked to carefully consider user needs, design constraints, and stakeholder interests throughout their project.
The winning project the group designed was an original idea from the students. It was a digital device to assist individuals in forming better habits called PUSH. The Ohio State Marion team goal for the project was to develop a product to assist those with a lack of motivation and trouble staying on task, such as those diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, college students, the typical 9-5 worker, retirees, or anyone wanting to better themselves.
According to the team member presentation overview, the possible user base has only expanded from the beginning as they discovered more people who could benefit from the device.
According to the team’s course instructor and faculty advisor, engineering 1182 perfectly prepared the students for the competition. “The idea of engineering 1182 is that students apply engineering mindset design for a design project and create value,” he said.
“During the entire process the students focused on getting feedback and making the design piece that not only solves the problem but would be desirable in its uses,” said Annasiwatta. “As a group the students went above and beyond to complete the design and build a prototype that they visioned applying the engineering mindset design.”
Annasiwatta shared that the idea was to design a project that could be marketed and sold to solve a challenge. At the end of the project, they presented a prototype to mock potential investors that would lead them to the next step in manufacturing and marketing.
The presentation is meant to emulate an actual product going to market, he added.
Engineering 1182 is part Ohio State’s First-Year Engineering Program, as well as the engineering technology major offered only at Ohio State Marion and Ohio State’s other regional campuses. Ohio State Marion offers the first full year of coursework towards an Ohio State degree in engineering and select second-year course offerings in the areas of computer science engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering, in addition to many general education curricula required for engineering.