Information About

When Professor Kevin Lynch first mapped out a Mechatronics Lab for the new Ford Engineering Design building, he couldn't have imagined the diversity and sheer weirdness of devices that students would build there. Both undergrad and graduate courses now make use of the lab, which has greatly increased the technical sophistication accessible to -- and asked of -- mechanical engineering students. Today's mechanical engineers need skills beyond traditional topics, including real-time software control and electronics for actuation and sensing.

Among the many projects spotted in the lab: a tremor-canceling laser pointer; a finger exoskeleton and a myoelectrically operated arm; an automated foosball game and an automated shoot-the-moon game; a robotic snakeboard / skateboard and a sound-guided cricket hunter; sensors inspired by rat whiskers and by electric fish; an automatic transmission for a bicycle; and a rapid-fire mobile card dealer (pictured). In addition to these course-based projects, the lab is open 24/7 for independent design projects, such as robots for the annual Design Competition.

The Mechatronics Design Laboratory is an undergraduate facility designed to assist students in building their own microprocessor-controlled electromechanical systems (also known as smart products). It serves as the laboratory for ME 333 Introduction to Mechatronics and is available to students participating in the design competition (DC). It is also available for other undergraduate design projects and teaching purpose.

Prof. Kevin Lynch talks with a Design Competition group

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The Machine Shop / Prototype Lab consists of a wide variety of machine tools and fabricating equipment that allows complex prototype and research equipment to be built. The equipment includes both CNC and manual machines - mills, lathes, grinders, and metal forming equipment. The lab is used for student projects, teaching, and construction of research equipment.

Undergraduate Cassandra Eggett demonstrates a water jet cutter		high bandwidth low bandwidth

The Engineering Design and Communication Studio serves Northwestern's innovative two-quarter sequence of courses for first-year engineering students. Students work in teams to solve real problems for real clients, designing solutions that range from websites to wheelchairs. More on EDC...

The Mechanical Engineering Manufacturing lab provides a wide range of industrial equipment typically used in manufacturing. In this lab, students can use CAD software to design a part, create CAM (computer aided manufacturing) output, program a CNC (computer numerical controlled) machine tool to fabricate a mold, and injection mold a plastic part.

Equipment includes Cincinnati Milacron Sabre 750 3-axis machining center and Cincinnati Milacron Togla Vista injection molding machine. A wide range of metrology equipment is available to verify the accuracy of both machined and injection molded parts.

The lab can simulate the complete manufacturing environment taking student projects “from art to part”.

Various types of fluid flow experiments are available in Mechanical Engineering's Fluid Mechanics Lab. Equipment includes a open channel flume (left), a wind tunnel, pipe flow systems, fluid momentum test rigs, pressure transducers, flow venturi meters, and manometers.

The Mechanical Engineering Rapid Prototyping Lab includes rapid prototyping systems based on wax, paper layers, plastic extrusion (fused deposition), and metal sintering.

Rapid prototyping takes designs from computer aided design (CAD) files and creates a physical model by laying down successive layers of liquid or powdered material to build up the model as a series of cross sections.

The rapid prototyping equipment is used in manufacturing classes and for design projects. These capabilities coupled with reverse engineering systems such as laser scanners and CMM (coordinate measuring machines) provide support for product development process, enabling students to scan existing parts and recreate them using rapid prototyping systems.

The Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center was dedicated in 2005, opening the doors of a new state-of-the-art teaching facility.

The six-story, 84,000-square-foot Ford Center is the first University building designed with the specific goal of being certified in environmental sustainability by the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System®.

The building is a teaching facility devoted to design education. Facilities include a large prototyping machine shop; a CAD/CAM lab; a rapid prototyping lab; a mechatronics lab; an automotive project bay; three design education studio-classrooms; group study and conference rooms; a student lounge; and project display space.

The annual Institute for Design Engineering and Applications (IDEA) project fair is held in the Ford Center (pictured left).