A Hands-on Approach to Teaching Thermal Systems Design

Thermal Systems Design, as a senior undergraduate course, has been taught by several methods in different mechanical engineering curricula. The objective of this upper-level undergraduate course at WSU Vancouver is to enhance the student’s industrial vision, and to prepare them for mechanical engineering practice before they graduate. For this purpose, students first apply the concepts of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer that they had previously learned in relevant fundamental courses, through the real world problems and design projects. To increase the ability of students in design and realization of thermal systems, a design competition is setup in class within the course timeframe. The present article reports the details and results of such a hands-on class activity.