Manufacturing Education for Undergraduate Engineering Students

The vast majority of engineering graduates in ChE, MetE, CerE, MatlE, ME, EE, IE/EM are employed by manufacturing companies, virtually all at the bachelor level. These new engineers are the future of their company and should, therefore, possess a good understanding of: 1) the importance and nature of manufacturing, 2) its translation into practice and 3) how to solve the manufacturing process problems they are certain to encounter. This paper describes the generic nature of manufacturing, its underlying chemistry, physics and biology base, and how this leads to a structured scenario for solving complex manufacturing process problems. It also suggests what should be encompassed in manufacturing education for undergraduates. Author: James D. Dowd (retired), Aluminum Company of America, Oakmont, PA.