0901102-06
Section 6: Freshman
Engineering Clinic II
Competitive Assessment Laboratory
The
Dormitory Sized Refrigerator
Haier 1.8
cu.ft. Mini Refrigerator Deskmate Thermoelectric Cooler
Igloo
Coolmate Thermoelectric Cooler Coldmate Portable
Minicooler
Instructor
Anthony
J. Marchese, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department
of Mechanical Engineering
College
of Engineering
Rowan
University
201 Mullica Hill Road
Glassboro, NJ 08028-1701
Office: 235 Rowan Hall
Email address: marchese@rowan.edu
Telephone: (856) 256-5343
Fax:
(856) 256-5241
Competitive
Assessment
In
today’s quickly changing and increasingly competitive market place, it is
imperative that manufacturers keep abreast of the technological advances and
design innovations incorporated into competing product lines.
The term competitive assessment
(or benchmarking) has been coined by manufacturers to describe the process of
ethically acquiring, inspecting, analyzing, instrumenting and testing the
product lines of other manufacturers.
NSF
Competitive Assessment Laboratory
The
Competitive Assessment Laboratory at Rowan University is funded by the
National Science Foundation (NSF). In the laboratory, multidisciplinary teams
of freshman engineering students from each of the four engineering departments
perform each of the above tasks on a consumer product.
The laboratory contains a series of consumer appliance test stations
featuring PC-based data acquisition systems capable of measuring thermocouple
and voltage/current signals.
Each station is also equipped with mechanical measurement equipment and
portable materials testing equipment.
Laboratory
Mission
The
mission of the NSF Competitive Assessment Laboratory at Rowan University is as
follows:
1)
Provide the launching pad for an innovative, four year design
curriculum by introducing freshmen to the science and art of design by
evaluating the work of practicing designers,
2)
Introduce multidisciplinary groups of engineering students to unifying
engineering mathematics and science principles such as differential and
integral calculus, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, thermodynamics, electric
circuit analysis, transport and electromagnetics using the consumer appliance
as a test bed,
3)
Enable students to determine how scientific principles, material
properties, manufacturing techniques, cost, safety requirements, environmental
considerations and intellectual property rights impact the design of a
product,
and
4)
Allow freshman students to actively participate in a meaningful design
effort by instrumenting and evaluating the performance of a consumer
appliance.
Spring 2003 Appliance
(Section 6)
This semester, section 6 will be
evaluating compact (i.e. dormitory sized), low-cost refrigerators. A
variety of small refrigerators exist that employ either traditional vapor
compression refrigeration or thermoelectric refrigeration. These
appliances are available in the $35 to $135 price range. The
appliances will be tested for efficiency, power consumption, noise, cooling
capacity, minimum cooling temperature, aesthetics, cost, etc.
Each
team will be provided with a refrigerator that is currently available to the
public consumer. The
following appliances will be tested:
Instructor
Anthony
J. Marchese, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department
of Mechanical Engineering
College
of Engineering
Rowan
University
201 Mullica Hill Road
Glassboro, NJ 08028-1701
Office: 235 Rowan Hall
Email address: marchese@rowan.edu
Telephone: (856) 256-5343
Fax:
(856) 256-5241
Office Hours
TBA
Grading
TBA
Homework
Policy:
There is no late
policy. Homework and laboratory
assignments are due on the specified date at the beginning of class.
Late assignments will be assigned a grade of 0.
Attendance
Policy
Attendance at each
class is required. Any unexcused absences translate directly into
a reduced course grade. For
any excused absence (illness, death in the family, etc.), I must be contacted
ahead of class time. Laboratory
Notebooks and calculators should be brought to each class. Sleeping is
forbidden. Cell phones must be turned off...unless you want them to be
reverse engineered.
Lateness
Lateness
to class is a real pet peeve of mine. I
know its early, but class starts at 8 a.m. on Wednesday mornings…not 8:05
a.m. or 8:10 a.m. If you stroll
in after 8:00 a.m., it will be counted as an unexcused absence.
Homework Teams
Homework teams will be
assigned. Click here for Team
Photos.
Course
Outline
Last updated: January 21, 2003