This is one of my preferred projects during my bachelor’s, because we got to work together with multiple study programs. Namely, Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering & Management. This interdisciplinary experience is very valuable, because it is a realistic scenario.
Multidisciplinary Teamwork
The ME students were respoinsible for the feasability of the mechanism. Together with the IDE students, they conceptualised the idea further. Afterwards, the ME students made the calculations and developed prototypes of the mechanism in order to make it work. They also considered the production plan and realised a mold in CAD for the injection molding parts. The IEM also looked in the production plan, but their focus was on the logistics of it. Also, they looked into the cost calculations and considered a marketing campain. The IDE students undertook the design of the product itself (eg., the housing and ergonomics), while also conducting user testing. Next to this, they had to keep overview of the whole project. They had to make sure that all the ideas from the different studies were in line and that the final product would be feasible within every aspect (eg., materials, production, costs, marketing, consumer needs). This resulted in the IDE students being involved within every aspect of the project, from market research to realising the final product.
My Experience
As an IDE student, you learn how to keep overview within a project and to make sure that all aspects of the development process are aligned. This project certainly showed me the importance of this role within a project team. Up to this point, this was only taught to us in theory. Thus, this project was extremely valuable to understand my place within a product development process.
