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Welcome to VIRCOM! |
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Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
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Innovation in Engineering Education: V-Learn-Fact MAE 464/564 Manufacturing Automation
The students in the engineering curriculum are rarely given opportunities for direct experience in the topics in these areas. This is especially true for the education component of the manufacturing and design curriculum in US universities. Some reading and stylized laboratory experiments often substitute for real experience. In the case of manufacturing, the cost of maintaining traditional laboratories is high. In addition, up-to-date training on current state-of-the-art equipment and software is all but impossible to offer because of high costs of building a curriculum that meets all the requirements of the "product realization" goals. Thus, since the spring of 1998, to improve the content delivery process, an innovative concept called the Virtual Learning Factory (V-Learn-Fact) has been the corner stone of the Manufacturing Automation course (MAE 464-564). For more information of the project and its content over the last few years, please check the links below. - Dr. T. Kesavadas
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In the V-Learn-Fact environment, the entire class takes part in a single large project, which covers the design of a manufacturing process from concept to final production stage. The class is divided into 5 departments of a Virtual Company (VIRCOM). The class group selects a product to be evaluated at the beginning of the semester. Each group performs one of the following tasks in the VIRCOM: Ø CAD Design of the product Ø Automation Ø Information Management Ø Quality Assurance Ø
Process
Planning
Working on a single product provide the opportunity to: ü study the entire process of Product Development and Manufacturing from start to end ü see the role of different departments in an enterprise involved in manufacturing ü learn the communication skills needed to work in a company with several departments ü learn the effects their design choices have on other departments of the factory and ü learn the importance of deadlines and timelines in a product realization process. V-Learn-Fact also provides an environment for students to test the product in a virtual reality setting in the VR-Fact software developed in the UB Virtual Reality lab. Some of the activities performed in the VR-Fact environment are; Layout of Machines, Cell Formation, Simulation and Immersive Fly-through inside the factory. V-Learn-Fact has been a huge success so far. For many students the Virtual Factory was the highlight of their senior or graduate education. Many commented that this experience have helped them at job interviews and in entry-level career choice.
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Contact Prof. T. Kesavadas
1006 Furnas Hall, The
TEL
(716) 645-2593 (x2229) |
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