Whatever you, do it with Passion.
A Message from Professor B.S. Mani
On December 8, over 150 Mechanical Engineering students, mostly freshmen, will gather in the Campus Center Ballroom A to showcase their reverse engineering projects.
Professor B.S. Mani, of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, started the Innovation 101 showcase event in 2011 so freshmen Mechanical Engineering students enrolled in Fundamentals of Engineering Design (FED) 101 could take real ownership of their semester’s learning and work. In Fall 2014, another professor Dr. Jaskirat Sodhi of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department joined Mani to share an endeavor of inspiring the freshmen students. Today, the Innovation 101 showcase event has become something the student community looks forward to; here the community witnesses the projects of the budding engineers.
More than twenty industry professionals are expected to attend, and they will judge the students’ digital poster presentations.
In the industry, says Mani, when one is told to create something, one has to research patents and potential copyright infringement, then visualize the product, list out parts, and come up with a design task plan. Working in groups of three, this is exactly what these students have been doing. Performing a set of tasks paralleling graduate-level coursework, students put their learning to the test through true hands-on experience.
Showcasing one’s work demonstrates pride in one’s work. Students will stand by their digital posters and explain their products to curious strangers. The students indeed have so much to be proud of. One student, who disassembled a fishing reel, was so excited about his work that he finished the project two or three weeks ahead of time. Another student working on a garden sprayer has not only completed his project but also has created interesting and complex animations of his project. A third team kept changing their product for reverse engineering, but they have completed the assembly and animations of their final choice far ahead of schedule. Enthusiasm in achieving very high standards is abounding amongst the student teams.
This year’s Innovation 101 will showcase the digital poster presentations of around 50 teams. Also in attendance will be two exceptional projects from last spring’s FED course. The top two groups from each of the five FED 101 sections will be recognized with certificates.
The most exceptional of these students may be recognized by something Mani has been working on for some time: the design well database seen in www.designwell.me.
From latches to faucets to door handles, the database contains animations of fundamental designs and credits the contributors. It is a good way for students to create something that can they can show off to friends, family or even job interviewers. In fact this becomes a mobile portfolio of work samples for the students who contribute to www.designwell.me.
During the past four years, during summers, undergraduate student researchers have helped to create around 200 animations for the database. Looking forward, Mani wants to populate the database with animations created not only by NJIT students, but also by external sources.
What motivates Innovation 101 and design well is this: something needs to spark inspiration.
Innovation 101
December 8th, 2015 Campus Center Ballroom A (2nd Floor)
1 PM to 3PM: Digital Poster Presentations
3:30 PM to 5 PM: Speakers and Awards
The showcase is open to all – please come one and all. To celebrate the success of freshmen.
