MAS215 Product Development for Sustainability

Contents and structure

Students will learn how to develop new products considering the environmental impacts of their products through the life cycle of a product.

The course will use active learning in the lectures. The students will get a lecture regarding the product development techniques and then work on a team-based project. The class will be preferably arranged as "restaurant/island layout" and the lecturer will walk around the tables and mentor them. The course will start with an introduction to product types, creativity, invention, innovation, and IP protection.

The creative ideation techniques, e.g., TRIZ, Lateral thinking, and managing the ideas such as the stage-gate model, SCAMPER, Six hats will be lectured to the students with examples. Then, the fundamental engineering knowledge that students have acquired, e.g., statics, construction, fluid mechanics, will be applied to the products in the shape of examples, assignments, and semester projects. Thereafter, the sustainability concerns, recommendations, and techniques will be lectured and practiced via case studies and practice examples. In the end, a feasible number of the selected products will be prototyped and tested. Besides, the students will be introduced to effective communication methods and mind fallacies in a product development process.

Learning Outcome

Knowledge

The Student..

• knows the product development process, from problem statement to prototyping
• knows how to consider sustainability in a product

Skills

The Student…

• can develop a desired product concerning sustainability aspects
• can use different ideation techniques
• can apply basic engineering knowledge on a product
• can effectively communicate ideas with others

General qualifications

The Student…

• can work with others in a team and have respect for other perspectives

Entry requirements

None

Teaching methods

Lectures, group discussion, mentoring sessions, self-study, Practicing cases

Compulsory learning activities

Three out of four assignments must be approved.

The assignments will be regarding, 1) Definition, 2) Ideation, 3) Engineering, 4) Sustainability applying the knowledge and skill learned in the course.

Assessment

The course has an examination in two parts: 1) Team project report and 2) case study, individual oral exam.

The team project counts for 50% of the final grade and the individual exam for the other 50% of the final grade. Both parts must get a passing to get a final grade for the course. In case one of the parts gets a failing grade, that part can be taken as are-sitting/postponed exam. Grading scale is A-F where F is fail.

Examination support material

None for the oral exam

More about examination support material