Undergraduate Senior Design: A Viable and Sustainable Mechanism to Solve Industrial Projects in Mechanical Engineering

In collaboration with a local industry, Rexnord Technologies, mechanical engineering undergraduate students at the Milwaukee School of Engineering have undertaken a series of senior design projects to solve practical problems in thermal engineering. A team of four students are working on Gearbox oil immersion heater control. This team is developing a control scheme to preheat the oil prior to gear movement and that which will ensure that the heater turns off at the correct time so as to maintain the oil temperature in V-series gearboxes. Another team of four students is tackling Gearbox forced convection heat dissipation-modeling and optimization. The beneficial effects of university-industry alliance and the development of well-rounded engineers are discussed along with the solutions for the specific projects. Assessment results highlighting the impact of senior design in the overall undergraduate curriculum are also be presented in this paper. The senior exit surveys also provide the premium value on senior design experience and industry involvement. The goal of this paper is to give the audience a taste of the senior design opportunities undergraduates have at the Milwaukee School of Engineering highlighting the Rexnord Technologies-sponsored projects and the role of industry collaboration.