Engineering Design Clinic Poses Real-World Problems

Engineering students at UC Davis have a chance to put their classroom learning to work on real problems through a design clinic hosted by the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. Modeled after legal and medical clinics in which supervised students give advice on real-world problems, the Design Clinic invites managers and engineers from industry to submit a problem to a team of four to five upper-division students. The students will work on the problem for either one or two quarters. They attend lectures, meet weekly with a faculty member to discuss their progress and have access to extensive laboratory, computer, design studio and prototype facilities. Some recent Design Clinic projects include a control system for rockets, a helicopter winch system, a design for a hybrid vehicle, an elevator positioning system, a hostage-situation vehicle, a CD jukebox, a pavement sealer, a bottle measurer and a torque tester.

Media Resources

Andy Fell, Research news (emphasis: biological and physical sciences, and engineering), 530-752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu

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