Online Course Support

MSE 5090: Case Studies in Material Selection 

11/27/98

Course Syllabus

	Welcome
	Contact Information
	Course Objectives
	Course Grading
	Required Texts
	Class Schedule

Welcome:

Engineering skills alone will not be enough for success, you must also be able to convincingly substantiate and present your opinions. When problems have more than three variables it becomes increasingly difficult to model and visualize them. For multivariable problems, which comprise most real world problems, finding an optimal solution mathematically is difficult to impossible. In such cases solutions are built up by insight and extrapolations from earlier experience. This approach dominates management education and is becoming increasingly dominant in engineering education, in contrast to education for research. The goal of this course to introduce you to the case study method in a materials science and engineering context and to provide you with experience in decision making under conditions of uncertainty that most of you will encounter throughout your career.

This is the first time I am using a Web Site in conjunction with this class.  The web site URL is : http://www.mse.utah.edu/~ma5090. Use the "email" button located on every page or address email to withyour suggestions and comments about the site . When you email assignments be sure to use the correct email subject for each assignment or just click on the subject title text link.

Contact Information:

Course Learning Objectives:

	Identify critical issues in a materials engineering design problem
	Perform an Engineering Case Study
	Integrate multiple criteria in solving an materials engineering problem
	Choose materials using systematic computer aided selection tools
	Choose materials which are optimum for attaining critical design objectives

What is an Engineering Case Study?

An engineering case is an account of a real world situation which required a technical solution.  This solution was constrained by political, economic, sociological and other conditions.  The Case you will do describes the reconciliation and tradeoffs between  conflicting  priorities or people  from the point of view of the technical protagonist.  A typical study describes how the purely technical solutions are shaped and modified by non technical considerations. The business and organizational dimensions of the problem are impossible to model mathematically. Thus most real world problems require judgement under uncertainty. The solutions to these problems are built up by inferring the rules empirically from similar situations. This is the essence of inductive reasoning, and forms the basis of most real world decisions. It involves decision making under conditions of uncertainty, a situation which requires judgement and even wisdom. It separates success from failure in the course of your career. The purpose of this course is to teach you how to think inductively and how to build solutions from similar "cases". Case based reasoning infers the rules from what happened , while deductive or "artificial intelligence" defines the rules and gives a "solution" based on what is optimum according to these rules. Early in your career the deductive approach will dominate the problems you will face. As your career evolves the case based and inductive skills will dominate. Starting a company or developing a product builds on deductive skills but in the final analysis involves a lot of judgement calls and luck. This course will differ from the approach used in the rest of your undergraduate education. Yet , if you don't want to be at the mercy of MBA's for the rest of your life, you will have to develop skills of the type you learn here.

Perform a Case Study on a selected topic

You will perform a Case Study during the course of this class.  Assignments throughout the semester will target specific sections of the final case study.  If you do the assignments on time you will not have any last minute stress trying to complete your project.

Along with the written assignment you will be expected to present the material in brief class presentations. Oral presentation is required and you are encouraged to participate as often as time permits. On oral presentation days everyone is expected to be prepared.  We will use the "volunteer" system - you can volunteer to present or I may volunteer your presentation.

Course Grading:

Required Texts:

	Ashby, M., Materials Selection in Mechanical Design, Pergamon Press, New York, 1992.
	Deiter, G., ASM Handbook, Volume 20 Materials Selection and Design, ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 1997.
	To order the ASM handbook:
	1. Join the ASM using the application form provided in class.
	2. With your application request the "Deiter, G., ASM Handbook, Volume 20 Materials Selection and Design, ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 1997."
	3. Item #06481G, ASM HB Vol 20; Matls select and DSN.
	4. Membership is $15 and the ASM Handbook is $87.50 plus shipping and handling estimated at $5.00. Make Payment to ASM International, Member Services Center, P.O. Box 901540, Cleveland, OH 44190-1540

Course Schedule:

Week 1  8/28/98 - 9/4/98	What is a Case Study? Reading: ASM pages 1 - 31 and 243 - 246; On Writing Engineering Cases;  How to Write a Case Study  Assignment(s): 3 Topics Analysis (Due 9/4/98)  Case Study: Select Topic (Due 9/11/98)
Week 2 9/7/98 - 9/11/98	Data Quality: CMS (Cambridge Material Selection)Software Reading: ASM pages 491 - 506; Ashby Chapter 10; CMS Software manual  Assignment(s): Ashby problems: B 6.1 through B 6.6 (Due 9/16/98)  Write Case Study Introduction (Due 9/18/98)
Holiday 7th
Week 3  9/14/98 - 9/18/98	Material Selection Process Reading: ASM pages 66 - 71 and review pages 243 - 254; Ashby pages 1 - 20  Assignment(s): Handout problems - Weighted Property Index Methods -ASM page 254 examples (Due 9/23//98)  Presentation of Case Study Introduction (Class period 9/18/98)
Week 4 9/21/98 - 9/25/98	Material Property Charts Reading: ASM pages 266 - 280; Ashby pages 24 - 55 and 253 - 282  Assignment(s): Ashby problems B 2.3, B 2.7, B 2.8, B 2.14 and B 2.18 (Due 9/30/98) CMS Software problems (Due 9/30/98) Write Case Study Detailed Background  (Due 10/2/98)
Week 5 9/28/98 - 10/2/98	Performance Indices Reading: ASM pages 281 - 295; Ashby pages 56 - 69  Assignment(s): Ashby problems B 3.1, B 3.3, B 3.6, and B 3.9 (Due 10/7/98)  Write Case Study: Functional Requirements and Indices  (Due 10/16/98)  Presentation of  Case Study Detailed Background (Class period 10/2/98)
Week 6 10/5/98 - 10/9/98	Case Studies In the Use of Property Charts Reading: ASM pages 322 - 332; Ashby pages 70 - 130  Assignment(s): Ashby problems B 3.10, B 3.11, B 3.13, B 3.14 and B 3.17 (Due 10/21/98)  Case Study: Plan External Contacts - includes contact information, interview questions, and meeting schedule (Due 10/16/98)
Holiday 9th
Week 7 10/12/98 - 10/16/98	Material Selection: Constraints and Design Requirements Reading: ASM pages 297 - 309 and 687 - 705; Ashby pages 167 - 207  Assignment(s): Ashby problems same as week 6  (Due 10/21/98)  Write Case Study:  Selection Criteria, Constraints, and Enumerations of Performance  (Due 10/28/98)  Interview External Contacts - (Due 10/28/98) Presentation of Case Study: Functional Requirements and Indices (Class period 10/16/98)
Week 8 10/19/98 - 10/23/98	Case Analysis and Process Selection Procedures Reading: ASM pages 297-309, 309 - 321 ; Ashby pages 167-207 Assignment(s): Ashby problems B 5.2 through B 5.4 (Due 10/30/98)  Midterm Review
Week 9 10/26/98 - 10/30/98	Material Optimization and Value Analysis Reading: ASM pages 110 - 126; Ashby pages 232 - 249 Ashby problems B 7.1 through B 7.3 Due 11/6/98 Assignment(s): Critique case study handouts (Due 11/11/98) Write Case Study: Discussions with external sources  (Due 11/13/98)
Week 10 11/2/98 - 11/6/98	Material Properties and Performance Trade-offs Reading: ASM pages 509 - 514 and 639 - 664  Assignment(s): CSM Problems handout (Due 11/13/98)  Presentation of Case Study: Selection Criteria, Constraints, and Enumerations of Performance (Class period 11/2/98)
MidTerm Nov 9th
Week 11 11/9/98 - 11/13/98	Manufacturing Aspects of Design Reading: ASM pages 669 - 686, 716 - 723, 762 - 772, and 820 - 827  Assignment(s): First Draft Case Study  (Due 11/25/98)  Presentation of Case Study: Summaries of discussions with external sources (Class period 11/13/98)
Week 12 11/16/98 - 11/20/98	Process Modeling and Selection Reading: ASM  review pages 297 - 309 and 705 - 716; Ashby review pages 167 - 207  Assignment(s): CSM Process Selector examples (Due 11/25/97)
Week 13 11/23/98 - 11/27/98	CMS Case Studies Reading: Ashby/Cebon Case Study Booklets  Assignment(s): CMS Case study examples (Due 12/4/98)  Second Draft Case Study  (Due 12/4/98)
Holiday 27th
Week 14 11/30/98 - 12/4/98	Failure Analysis in Case Studies, Case Study Integration Reading: ASM pages 96 -104 and 131 - 146  Assignment(s): Final Version of Case Study  (Due 12/11/98)  Presentation of Case Study: Summary of Critical Issues or Strategic Analysis (Class period 12/4/98)
Week 15 12/7/98 - 12/11/98	Comparisons of Theory and Real World Reading: Handouts  Assignment(s): CASE STUDY DUE LAST DAY OF CLASS - 12/11/98 Presentation of  Case Study: Strategic Analysis or Recommendations (Class period 12/11/98)

Acknowledgments: 
Web Page produced by Know-More- Connie Rae  Morgan ,  using Netscape Composer
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 Last update 11-8-98