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| Interdisciplinary Programs and Research
Rensselaer has long understood that neither student career interests nor modern industry needs are easily pigeonholed into a single discipline. In fact, the discovery of new and more advanced technologies more often than not results from combining the knowledge of a variety of disciplines. Rensselaer is, therefore, resolved to become a leader in providing numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary study. Engineering Science Chair Kevin C. Craig Rensselaer’s engineering science curriculum serves students whose educational desires do not correspond to the standard professional engineering curricula. Degrees awarded in engineering science are not accredited for professional engineering practice. However, since each student develops an individual program in consultation with a faculty adviser, the program provides the opportunity to tailor programs of study to specific needs. Studies may be based on the sciences. For example, programs may concentrate on the application of engineering and scientific techniques to areas between technology and the humanities and social sciences. Students may also develop a program providing a liberal education based on engineering and involving a critical appreciation of the increasingly technical culture. Such courses of study may form the basis for premedical, prelaw, or prebusiness programs. Faculty D. Kaminski, G.A. Gabriele, W.C. Jennings, B.K. Malaviya, J.M. Tien, H.F. Tiersten, W.A. Wallace Product Design and Innovation This dual major program, which the Schools of Engineering and Humanities and Social Sciences offer jointly, satisfies the requirements for the Bachelor of Science programs in both Engineering Science and Science, Technology, and Society (STS). Product Design and Innovation (PDI) prepares students to become innovative designers who will develop and design the advanced products and technologies needed in the future. Built around a design studio every semester, PDI combines the technical sophistication of Rensselaer’s engineering science curriculum with the insight and vision of the humanities and social science disciplines in the STS curriculum. The design studio that students take every semester is the PDI core, which gives them a hands-on opportunity to bring together the two major curricula. The engineering science curriculum provides a fundamental education in engineering science through basic courses in engineering mechanics, engineering electronics, energy, materials, and manufacturing. The STS curriculum provides a fundamental education in the economic, ethical, cultural, and political dimensions of product development and innovation, including numerous case studies of successes and failures that help students learn what it takes to be effective leaders of design teams. Through the design studios, students explore and develop their creativity while building a portfolio of design experiences continuously throughout all four years. The design experiences range from larger systemic problems to smaller focused problems, so that students have broad exposure to different applications of design practice. Some fall and spring semester studios are taught as a sequence to give students experience with the design process from beginning to implementation. The studios also develop students’ skills in using computers and other advanced tools and techniques, as well as in drawing, visualizing, communicating, and working together. PDI graduates are thus uniquely prepared to put their creativity to work as leaders of design and innovation, whether in a multinational business at the cutting-edge of the global market or in a smaller business that creates an unusual solution to a local problem. They are able to function effectively in the new situations and unfamiliar environments of a multicultural global society, to collaborate with diverse constituencies to analyze and formulate problems of varying complexities, and to work individually and in teams to develop truly innovative and powerful solutions to challenges affecting this country’s continued prosperity and social well-being. Programs corresponding to PDI are described in the School of Architecture and the Humanities and Social Sciences STS Department sections of this catalog. On the basis of the student’s desire for emphasis in a particular area, suitable combinations of courses will be arranged. The courses must form a coordinated program with adviser approval and must satisfy the general Institute and School of Engineering requirements. The program is subject to review by the curriculum committee in charge of Engineering Science. B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees are available in this curriculum. Product Design and Innovation Curriculum
1. These courses may be taken either semester. Programs in Manufacturing Manufacturing integrates several engineering disciplines with design, science, technology, economics, metrology, communication, and research components. No single engineering discipline can supply the type of engineer needed for such systems integration. As a result, a team of specialists speaking the common language of manufacturing systems is necessary. Rensselaer’s programs in manufacturing are based on the premise that all phases of the product life cycle should be integrated into a single design, manufacturing, and service disposal or recycle system. Since designing a system that functionally integrates product design, quality, manufacturing, and marketing requires a multidisciplinary team of manufacturing specialists, structured programs of study that are built on one of the nation’s most extensive assortment of manufacturing-related courses frequently involve participation with one of the Rensselaer research centers involved in manufacturing. These include the Center for Integrated Electronics, the Center for Automation Technologies, and the Electronic Agile Manufacturing Research Institute. These centers offer challenging and industrially relevant projects for students, unique laboratory and software facilities, and internship or co-op programs that provide excellent opportunities to practice manufacturing engineering. These, together with research projects in the academic departments, ensure a dimension to manufacturing engineering education that extends beyond the classroom experience. Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory Undergraduate students in mechanical engineering, industrial and management engineering, materials engineering, nuclear engineering, engineering physics, electrical engineering, and computer and systems engineering can participate in a two-course concentration in advanced manufacturing laboratory. The first course gives students hands-on experience with modern manufacturing through which they learn technologies and methodologies. This course exposes students to five primary technology and processing areas: robotics and automation, computerized numerical control, machining, metal working, and plastic injection molding. Secondary topics include abrasive water-jet machining, thermoforming, and rapid prototyping. The second laboratory course leads the student through the development of an actual mini-manufacturing plant and the production, testing, pricing, etc., of a finished product. The course requires an integrated project approach to planning and producing a product using the skills developed in the first course. Students are split into groups of 15. Structured as an industrial project team, each group designs and manufactures a product that uses the equipment from each of the laboratory’s key areas. Students are responsible for organizing work teams, designing the product (along with appropriate molds, dies, and fixtures), contacting vendors, and completing the project within a semester and within budget. While the students interact with faculty consultants and industrial partners, it is their responsibility to ensure that the project results in the manufacturing of their finished product. Microelectronics Manufacturing Graduate students in electrical engineering, computer and systems engineering, materials engineering, chemical engineering, and physics can specialize in microelectronics manufacturing through a program funded by a consortium of U.S. semiconductor manufacturers. A VLSI fabrication laboratory course allows these students to participate in the individual phases of the semiconductor manufacturing process in the clean room facilities of the Center for Integrated Electronics. Specialized courses in VLSI design, semiconductor materials, electronic devices, and statistical process control are also part of the curriculum. Students receive the master’s degree in their respective departments and certification in microelectronics manufacturing. Manufacturing Systems Engineering Degree Program Rensselaer’s Department of Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems offers a unique Master of Science or Master of Engineering program in manufacturing systems engineering that was developed to educate students in the modeling, management, technological, and information systems aspects of the manufacturing function. The program stresses development of critical communications, practice, and research skills needed to function in the modern manufacturing environment. It teaches students to be resourceful in selecting modeling tools appropriate for specific problems, including the need to enhance this knowledge through lifelong learning. The program also develops the knowledge and tools necessary to maintain a systems perspective in problem solving that is consistent with the underlying strategic focus of a manufacturing system and teaches students to make full and effective use of information resources. The program supports concentrations in manufacturing systems management, manufacturing systems modeling, manufacturing processes and technology, and manufacturing systems quality. For a detailed description of this program, see the Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems section of this catalog. Manufacturing Programs via Distributed Learning Rensselaer offers specially designed master’s degree and graduate-level certificate programs in manufacturing to working professions who are unable to attend classes on campus through the Office of Professional and Distance Education. Courses are provided to industrial participants, alumni, and individuals through the Internet, interactive videoconferencing, satellite broadcasts, and mailed videotapes. Distributed students adhere to the same admission procedures, course expectations, and graduation requirements as on-campus students. Programs in manufacturing systems engineering and microelectronics manufacturing engineering lead to the Master of Science degree in Engineering Science. Programs in manufacturing management lead to the Master of Science in Management degree. All degree programs may be completed entirely through distributed learning. For those students who do not wish to pursue a full master’s program, certificates are awarded for the completion of four-course sequences in designated areas. Distributed students are also encouraged to accelerate their programs and expand the number of course options by coming to campus for one semester as a full-time student. This provides them with the full range of manufacturing courses and research opportunities described in other sections. For further information, please visit http://www.pde.rpi.edu. |
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180. (518) 276-6000 Please direct questions regarding this site to catalog@rpi.edu. |