Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical CAD Model and Engineering Drawing

Required. Produce a fully dimensioned 2D engineering drawing and 3D CAD model of a real mechanical component: title block, views (front/side/section), full GD&T dimensioning, tolerance specifications, and bill of materials. Drawing must be to BS 8888, ISO GPS, or ASME Y14.5 standard — the specific standard must be identified and followed consistently. FreeCAD is free and open-source; Onshape has a free tier. A qualified mechanical engineer or draftsperson challenges your tolerance selections: they present a mating component specification and ask whether your tolerances achieve the required fit.

Mechanical Structural Analysis

Elective. Finite element analysis or hand calculation of a real mechanical component under defined load cases: model setup documentation (geometry, boundary conditions, mesh quality check, load application), FEA result report with stress contours, safety factor calculation against a named material allowable, and mesh convergence study. SimScale free tier runs cloud FEA without software install. A structural engineer or FEA practitioner challenges your boundary conditions: they present an alternative loading scenario and ask whether the safety factor changes significantly and why.

Mechanism Design and Kinematic Analysis

Elective. Kinematic analysis of a real mechanism: velocity and acceleration diagrams, displacement-time profile for the mechanism output, identification of singular configurations, and comparison of analytical calculation with a simulation result. GeoGebra (free) or Python/scipy (free) for graphing kinematic traces. A mechanical engineer challenges the analysis: presents a modified linkage geometry and asks how the velocity ratio changes at a specific crank angle.

Engineering Materials Selection

Elective. Systematic materials selection for a real engineering design decision using Ashby's method: performance index derivation, candidate material screening with objective quantification (density, yield strength, cost, corrosion resistance — weighted by the application), and a written justification for the final choice with explicit trade-off documentation. CES EduPack free student tier or Cambridge Materials Science Databooks (public property data). A materials engineer challenges the selection by presenting a competing material with better performance on one criterion and asking whether the weighting changes the outcome.

Mechanical Engineering Design Report

Elective. A complete mechanical design report for a real engineering problem: design brief, concept generation (≥3 concepts with evaluation matrix), detailed design with CAD drawings and calculations, materials specification, manufacturing process rationale, and risk assessment. All three Engineering Design Triad artifacts must be present: design drawings (CAD), analysis (structural calculation or FEA), and documentation (report). A professional mechanical engineer reviews the report and challenges the design decisions: presents a production constraint you did not address and asks how the design would change.

Free, open-source parametric 3D CAD modelling application that produces engineering drawings with full GD&T annotation. Runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Use for the CAD drawing step (3D model + 2D engineering drawing) and for generating geometry for FEA. FreeCAD's TechDraw workbench produces ISO-standard 2D views with title blocks and dimensioning.

Cloud-based FEA and CFD platform with a free community tier. Runs in the browser — no software install. Upload a STEP or STL file, define boundary conditions and material properties, run structural FEA, and download stress contour results and deformation plots. Use for the structural analysis step. The community tier supports static structural and thermal analysis.

The standard textbook for systematic materials selection using performance indices and Ashby charts. Preview chapters available free. Use the Ashby method framework for the materials selection step — the performance index derivation and weighting matrix structure your selection argument so a reviewer can challenge specific quantitative choices.

Free MIT course materials on engineering drawing standards, GD&T symbols, tolerance analysis, and fits and clearances. Use to understand the drawing standard requirements for the CAD drawing step — what a fully dimensioned drawing to ASME Y14.5 requires in practice.