1. Engineering Design & Prototyping Activities across Penn State
Timothy W. Simpson
Director, The Learning Factory
Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering
Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering
Engineering Design
Information Sciences & Technology
Sven G. Bilén
Head, School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs
Electrical Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Center for Space Research Programs

2. Engineering Design Project Continuum
$25,000+
Research
Sponsored Industry Engagements
Integrated
Projects?
$20,000
EDSGN 100
$15,000
$10,000
Capstone
$5000
First-Year
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Grad (MS)
Grad (PhD)
E-Ship, L-Ship, HESE, Product Realization Minors
Integrated Design Solutions
Lion Launch Pad
MS EDSGN?
CRDI &
Iron Lion Design Challenge
Supporting
Infrastructure
Learning Factory

3. EDSGN 100: Intro to Engineering Design
Client-sponsored projects since late 1990s
Prolific idea creation, with market value, documented in web reports of over 150 four-student teams
Teams follow design process, from customer needs assessment, concept generation, and selection to documented model
Example clients/industry
Xerox
Armstrong Industries followed up with LF capstone projects
Shell sponsored top idea through LF project
Intuitive Control Systems, LLC  Local SME
Currently booked through Spring & Fall 2012

4. Learning Factory Capstone Design Projects
Established in 1995
Mission
Provide hands-on real-world design experience through industry-partnered capstone projects
135 projects for 80 different clients in 2011/12
680 students in 13 engr depts involved in 2011/12
Joint projects with Arts & Architecture, Business, Communications, Earth & Mineral Sciences, IST

5. Undergraduate Design Projects
SEDTAPP and Learning Factory have both created successful models for small-scale design projects
$3k–$10k per design project
Quick and easy to execute (if semester aligns)
Company-friendly IP and NDA policies
Model works well for companies of any size
Attractive to large companies (recruiting, branding)
Affordable for Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs/start-ups

6. Lion Launch Pad
The Lion Launch Pad (Lion LP) is Penn State’s on-campus, student-centric business accelerator program providing
No-rent office space in 123 Keller Bldg.
Mentoring network to help develop and refine new product, process, service, or venture ideas
Funding – from no-payback grants ($500) to loans and equity investments
A step toward summer incubator programs like AlphaLab (Pittsburgh), DreamIt Ventures (Philadelphia), LaunchBox (Washington, D.C.)
Lion Launch Pad teams in 2011 include
SpeedCountry.com (Mike and Paul Silvis/IST and Comp. Sci.)
Altag (Matt Barnes/ME)
ShipCo. (Jobi Calixte/Finance)
GardenTroll (Mike Easterbrook/Engineering)
On Point Enterprises (Taj Felix/Economics, plus 8 students)

7. Center for Research in Design & Innovation
Established Dec. 2008
Mission:
Support interdisciplinary design research, education, outreach
NSF Design Workshop Series
Iron Lion Design Challenge
X-Disciplinary Creativity
Over $1M in funding to date

8. Iron Lion Design Challenge
Held each summer in LF starting in 2008
Week-long design challenges for teams of 3–5 students from multiple disciplines
Year 1: Design projects from research, PSU (Engr)
Year 2: Industry and research projects, PSU (Engr)
Year 3: Industry design projects, PSU+BYU+ND+OSU
Year 4: Industry design projects, PSU (Engr+Design)
Year 5: Two 24-hr design-build challenges (Engr)

9. designXchange Design exchanges with:
Pilot offering on 27 April 2012
Sponsored by CRDI & Stuckeman
Design exchanges with:
Armstrong World Industries
Fathom (design consulting)
SITE (architecture firm)
24 attendees: faculty, students, industry, and entrepreneurs
Featured in:
Learn
Fashion Design (Faculty) Engr Design
Practice
Armstrong
(Industry)
Entrepreneur

10. Integrated Design Solutions (IDS)
Services Provided
Design
Prototyping
Testing
SBIR/STTR proposal collaboration
Data collection and analysis
Transform idea to prototype
Access to full breadth of disciplines across Penn State
Simplified Contract Agreement
1-page agreement
Execute within a week
Project cost estimated at beginning of project
General range $10k to $80k
Intellectual property (IP)
Client keeps all IP
Scheduling not constrained to semester schedule
Electrical, Mechanical, and CAD Design
Design
Transform an idea into a prototype for testing
Prototyping
Materials, Design, Market, Environmental, and Mechanical Testing
Testing

11. Digital Fabrication Equipment @ PSU

12. Integrated Graduate Design Projects?

13. MS in Engineering Design (Proposed)
Targeted start date: Fall 2013
Value of the degree stems from graduate’s breadth in design drawing on a technical engineering base – the “T” model
Samples of the career paths for graduates
Product Designer: Student who has finished an undergraduate degree in a technical field and is interested in the design aspects that are necessary to take a technology to market. Graduate would be hired by a company into a position such as product development engineer, product manager, etc.
Corporate Design/Innovation Leader: Student interested in design research and the practical application of it to product design and innovation practices within a company or organization.
Engineering entrepreneur: Student who wishes to stay in State College pursuing a start-up on a product idea from their undergraduate program. Many students have expressed interest in such a program that would allow them to continue working toward a relevant degree while pursuing their start-up—these students currently leave the area.