AN AFFORDABLE MACHINING LABORATORY APPROACH FOR UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERS

Designers in any industry need to understand the processes involved in making a part beforehand in order to communicate with technicians from trade schools and industry. Even a simple engineering drawing can often not be created due to process limitations (e.g., a perfectly drawn internal 90 degree angle in a CAD drawing does not occur in nature OR in a machine shop). This paper describes an affordable way to teach manufacturing to undergraduate engineering students and in the process provide them with hands on training in a machine shop environment. The goal here is not to create machinists, but to enable future Engineers to understand and talk with designers/machinists. The theme here is not to spend on expensive super machines but on simple machines as emphasized in the Toyota Production System. Students learn the techniques that let technicians produce perfect parts on imperfect, simple machines. The result for Auburn University has been an affordable laboratory that mutually supports undergraduate students, graduate research students, and the university as a whole.