Course syllabus for Product development project

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-26 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameProjekt i produktutveckling
  • CodeMPP126
  • Credits15 Credits
  • OwnerMPPDE
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyIndustrial Engineering and Management, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering
  • DepartmentINDUSTRIAL AND MATERIALS SCIENCE
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 33117
  • Maximum participants60
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsNo

Credit distribution

0107 Written and oral assignments 4.5 c
Grading: TH		 4.5 c
0207 Project 10.5 c
Grading: TH		 3 c7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Registration on the master's programme Product development (MPPDE), thus having basic courses in Product development management (IAR061), Advanced computer aided design (PPU080) and Product planning - needs and opportunities (PPU085), or registration on the master's programmes Quality and operations management (MPQOM), Industrial ecology (MPTSE) or Industrial design engineering (MPDES).

Aim

The aim of the course is to make the students experience a real product development project by letting them carry out an industrially assigned product development task in a cross-functional project team with students with different educational backgrounds.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

After completed course the students shall be able to:

  • Utilise methods for project planning and management.
  • Elicit and interpret customers' and other stakeholders' product demands and needs.
  • Establish a problem definition with technical prerequisites and requirements, considering all phases of the life cycle.
  • Harmonise conflicting interests and information.
  • Employ methods for synthesis to conceive and organise solution principles.
  • Make use of and combine existing solution principles and technologies (e.g. mechanics, mechatronics, electronics, materials, software, and services) in product synthesis.
  • Utilise advanced IT tools to model and analyse technical solutions.
  • Choose and justify technical solutions based on problem definitions and results from performed analyses.
  • Practise and demonstrate how to refine technical solutions into robust products with assured quality.
  • Explain different product development strategies such as platform-based design, modularisation and standardisation.
  • Make use of physical models and prototypes for both development and promotion.
  • Demonstrate and practise how to prepare and organise required documentation.
  • Apply efficient means for communication and collaboration in a development setting.
  • Interact with members in a team to fulfil common goals; by contributing with own competence and skills; and making use of other team members' competence and skills.
  • Independently seek and acquire new information in order to advance personal knowledge.
  • Adopt a holistic perspective in which technological progress contributes to a sustainable society; ecologically, economically, and socially.
  • Identify and report on ethical consequences and moral dilemmas in the context of developing and offering a new product. 

Content

The contents of the course is divided in:

  • A product development project
  • Lectures with a literature assignment on product development related topics

The project is an assignment from an industrial company and it contains tasks as:

  • Analysis of customer and market needs
  • Specification of requirements
  • Concept generation
  • Analysis of technical and economic feasibility
  • Detail design
  • Prototype building

Organisation

The project is carried out in cross-disciplinary teams with 6-8 students with different disciplinary backgrounds from mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, automation, industrial design engineering, industrial economics and organization and quality and operations management. Each team has both an academic and an industrial supervisor. All projects follow the same master process. This process includes control gates where predefined gate deliverables are to be presented and approved at design reviews. At the final gates the final result shall be presented in terms of a written project report, a project seminar and an exhibition of models and prototypes. To support the project work a series of lectures is given. These lectures cover product development topics, and complements the course literature. Each team shall write a reflection report about the contents of the lectures and the course literature. This shall be appended in the final project report.

Literature

- Ulrich K., T. and Eppinger S., D. Product Design and Development, McGraw Hill, Fourth edition, 2008 (or newer) - Scientific papers

Examination including compulsory elements

Based on:

  • Assessment of individual as well as team performance in the product development project
  • Project result
  • Three short written individual tests on lecture and litterature contents

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.