ENGR320: Machine Design and Synthesis
Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2009
4 credits
Machine Design and Synthesis is intended to
provide students with a hands-on introduction to the process of taking a
complicated problem and designing/building a machine to address it.
Lectures cover topics such as the design process, bolts, gears, pulleys,
linkages, static failure, and factors of safety.
This course also features the popular Machine Design competition, in which students are presented with a challenge and then given the semester to build a machine to compete in a friendly celebration at the end of the semester.
ENGR171: Engineering Graphics Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2009
4 credits
Engineering Graphics is the first course in the Mechanical Engineering class series at the University of St. Thomas. Students are taught about the engineering design process, Computer Aided Design (using SolidWorks), creating engineering prints, and basic machine elements. Students are given the opportunity to use the Design Lab's 3D printer, laser cutter, and other prototyping tools.
Students work in groups to complete a final project that entails taking apart a multi-element object, measuring each component, and then producing a 3D model of the object, along with a full packet of engineering drawings, a poster, and an oral presentation on their work.
ENGR488: Dynamics with Circus Lab
J-Term 2009
2 credits
This course covers dynamics topics beyond what is
covered in ENGR220. Topics
include rotating
reference
frames, Lagrangian dynamics (for both conservative and non-conservative
systems), and inertia tensors. Unique to this course are the lab
sessions, which will occur at
Circus Juventas.
Exercises and experiments involving the flying trapeze, Spanish web, and other circus equipment will be performed to strengthen understanding of the material covered in class.
(Note that students will not be required to try out the circus equipment, however all students will have the option to do so.) The class periods are a combination of lecture, problem solving, experimental design, and hands-on lab sessions at Circus Juventas.
ENGR480/481: Senior Design (2006/2007,
2007/2008)
Senior Design is a yearlong course required of all UST School of Engineering students. Teams of students work with a faculty consultant on a project for an industrial, or humanitarian, sponsor. Dr. Thomas has coached the following teams:
- 2006/2007- Marvin Windows (hurricane-proof locking mechanism)
- 2007/2008- Dr. Dan Carey (athletic respiration rate detector)
- 2007/2008- 3M (household window cleaning device)
IDSC480 Brain Machine Interfaces (Fall 2007, Spring 2009)
Co-taught with Dr. Roxanne Prichard
(Psychology) What if you could control your computer just by
thinking about it? In this seminar, we will discuss the potential
applications and limitations of direct brain-computer interfaces from
both neuroscience and engineering perspectives. Brain-Machine
Interfaces are no longer just plot devises for science fiction movies.
In the last two years, recording electrodes have been used to move
robotic arms for amputees and to suppress nausea in children with severe
digestive disorders. Stimulating electrodes have been used to provide
sensations of sight and sound in blind and deaf individuals. As our
understanding of the neural code and nanotechnology improves, scientists
will have the ability to record from and/or stimulate not just hundreds,
but millions, of neurons. Is mind reading or mind control really
possible? What are the ethical and practical concerns of such advances?
IDSC480 Product Design for an Aging Population (Fall
2008)
Co-taught with Dr. Mary Anne Chalkley (Psychology) The aim of this seminar is two-fold. The first goal of the course is to develop an appreciation for the impact that the aging of the US population will have on society. The seminar will incorporate readings and guest lectures on this topic. We will examine how society will need to change to accommodate a markedly different population demographic as well as how individuals can, and do, cope with the changes associated with aging. The course will also be an immersive introduction to the field of product design. Students will gain an appreciation for the processes involved in creating a useful and marketable product through work on a semester long group project designing a product for the elderly.