Engineering News, November 3, 2006

November 3, 2006 Vol. 77, no. 12F

IT’S GOOD TO EXPERIMENT: ME senior Tessie Li makes adjustments to the shock absorber dynamometer while a teammate looks on. RACHEL SHAFER PHOTO

Seniors investigate working engineering systems in capstone lab, ME 107B

In Hesse Hall, teams of ME seniors labor over instrument panels and machines. They conduct experiments, record data and analyze the results. In the shock absorber dynamometer experiment, a team is learning to evaluate the behavior of a gas-filled shock absorber. Earlier in the semester, the seniors had collected a baseline set of data that established how the shock absorber would behave under normal conditions. Now, they’re throwing in the proverbial monkey wrench by changing one parameter at a time. At the moment, the team is using an oil of a different viscosity. Multiply that by several parameters, add in two more experiments, three papers and an oral presentation per experiment, and you have ME 107B, the senior capstone lab every mechie experiences before graduation.

“It’s really rigorous but we’re learning a lot,” says Tessie Li during a break in the shock absorber experiment.

“It’s definitely more exciting than problem sets,” adds her teammate, Jason Kwok.

For decades, ME 107B has been the “rubber meets the road” course for ME students who have found it provides them with practical skills. “They’re now working with whole, active systems, and they have to bring together material they’ve learned from their courses to discover the answers themselves,” says ME professor Ralph Greif. “It’s an engineering apprenticeship, so to speak, and it’s a very important part of our curriculum.”

One team recently collected data that appeared to run counter to what the members had expected, based on their analysis. They told Greif, and it turned out the machine needed to be recalibrated. Greif recounts this story with relish, evidence that the students were indeed applying what they’d learned. “It’s a system, and it requires modification from time to time,” he says. “It’s all part of learning to be a successful engineer.”

For more information, go to www.me.berkeley.edu/ME107B.

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