REALIZATION OF MODERN EDUCATIONAL CONCEPTS IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

This paper gives an overview of engineering design education at University Erlangen-Nuremberg in order to prompt a discussion about the structure and scope of the proposed educational concept compared to other approaches. Due to the transformation of the traditional German degree programs to an educational system based on two cycles (bachelor/master), a new curriculum had to be performed. The curricula and the according lectures were derived based on a review of demands on product developers. This review and the resulting educational concept are presented in this paper. While setting up the lectures, one of the aims for education in engineering design was to build up and emphasize a close relationship between engineering design, engineering mechanics, materials engineering and production technology. Some of the courses, especially a CAD course and a product development and design project, are explained more in detail. In the first mentioned course, a modern way of computer-supported, "blended learning" was realized. In the second mentioned course, new ground was broken by applying subject-specific knowledge in combination with soft skills by offering an obligatory project already in the bachelor program.