Fab Lab As An Implementation Tool Of The CDIO Program

The CDIO program sustain that the core of engineering is built up on four fundamental activities (C: Conceive, D: Design, I: Implement and O: Operate) and concentrates on the development and spread out of teaching techniques that allow students to master these skills. 

Project courses involving the generation of real engineering systems are seen as a great opportunity for students to acquire this knowledge, while collaborating with teammates under the guidance of professors. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a suitable subject to enable people to practice the whole CDIO chain over the few months of a course. Most projects will end up on the firsts stages of conception (C) and design (D).

We hypothesize that implementation time (construction of real prototypes) is one important obstacle for the practice of the CDIO program, specially if projects are to be done on one semester courses.

Our proposal is to use Digital Fabrication Laboratories as a tool for the rapid implementation and operation of engineering systems. We report our experience on the development of short period courses involving the whole CDIO chain, thanks to the use of rapid prototyping tools. We comment on how these tools might impact the early conception and design stages as well.

Proceedings of the 9th International CDIO Conference, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 9 – 13, 2013.