Mechanical engineering students gained practical experience casting screwdriver handles this fall in the Art Department’s foundry in a collaboration between the two departments.
For one week in October, the foundry was the classroom for ME 311 — Manufacturing: Metals and Automation, where more than 200 students worked on creating the handles they had designed.
In this course students learn processes for manufacturing metal parts, including casting. The curriculum focuses on designing parts to make them easier to manufacture, with an eye toward increasing productivity.
Mike DeCicco, teaching faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the course’s lab coordinator, said it’s important for aspiring engineers — even those who don’t plan to work in a production environment — to learn the process of casting.
“Many products are initially cast,” he said. “It’s really a fundamental skill.”
Understanding fundamental manufacturing processes such as casting can help students design better products, he said.
Frank Pfefferkorn, a professor in mechanical engineering and the course’s lecture instructor, agreed.
“Students gain a better understanding of a manufacturing process that is used to produce almost every metal part at some point in its manufacturing life cycle,” he said. “This exposure will help more students decide if they are interested in pursuing a career at one of the 115 metal casting facilities in Wisconsin or the 1,750 foundries in the United States.”