Integrating the Case Method and Design Projects in the Industry-Sponsored Academic Education

This is a companion paper to IMECE 2013 - 63278. The paper describes a course in which practical designing of industrial products and processes is supported by the analysis of operations management cases taken from actual manufacturing companies. Through the case method, students assume the role of decision-makers who have to use their engineering and business knowledge to deal with real-life problems. Such an approach helps to support and complement the students’ senior design experience and cover those subjects left out from their sponsored design projects. The cases emphasize operations management concepts; economic analysis of manufacturing processes; process analysis, design, and improvement; integration of experimental analysis and research methodologies in diverse manufacturing industries; as well as the interaction between manufacturing technologies and the competitive strategy of the firm. This way, students not only practice solving manufacturing problems, but also develop a framework for dealing with practical situations they are likely to face in their career development. We provide teaching recommendations and practical examples of the case method in this context.Copyright © 2014 by ASME