Best design projects for mechanical engineering students

Summary:

One of the most underrated fields of engineering is mechanical engineering, despite being one of the oldest and broadest fields. It is the ‘MOTHER’ of engineering because all other fields depend on mechanical engineering in some way or the other. Any devoted mechanical engineer has to go through fluid mechanics, material science, thermodynamics, and what now but one thing all mechanical engineers have in common is their interest in designing. Computer-aided design, known as CAD, is one of the most interesting and creative things in mechanical engineering, it is where you apply the knowledge you learned throughout years into practice. Read below about what is CAD, what is the best CAD software for you and the best design projects for mechanical engineer.

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1. 3D Printer

2. Automobile Prototyping

3. CNC Machine using Arduino

4. Project Management with Primavera

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What is CAD?

Computer-aided design or CAD is the heart of mechanical engineering. As the name suggests it means designing products on software rendered on computers. It consists of 2-D sketching, 3-D designing, and assembly. Most cases require designing the parts separately as components then assembling them to make the final product because it is not possible to create the whole product at once. While designing, an engineer has to keep in mind the feasibility of manufacturing of the product and the material used. Analysis plays a huge role in optimizing the design of any product and it is very closely related to designing. Design projects play an important role in engineering life because many students pursue it as there career option.

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Which is the best CAD software?

There are more than 100s of CAD Softwares used commercially, and to be honest we can not generalize what is the best software because it depends on the need of the user. For example, Autodesk Fusion 360 has a very user-friendly interface, it is best for a beginner, whereas AutoCAD is the most common commercially used software. It all depends on what is the level of the user, mostly in colleges AutoCAD or Solidworks is being taught.

Solidworks is one such software that has an easy to understand interface as well as is commercially used. Fun fact company that owns it also makes combat aircraft. It is commonly taught software in engineering colleges, mostly student teams use them for their design projects and students use them in there final year projects. In Solidworks you can easily make 2-D drawings and convert them into 3-D and surfacing is also not that tough to do in Solidworks.

Pro-E and Catia are mainly industrial software because of its interface but the accuracy and appearance of the CAD are beyond comparison.

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Did you know

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You can enrol with friends and receive kits at your doorstep.

You can learn from experts, build working projects, showcase skills to the world and grab the best jobs.
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What is the need for CAD in engineering?

1. Everything that you see cannot be simply manufactured then tested, hence we make a CAD of the product and test it in simulations to check is the product is durable and reliable, what is the life of the product under normal real-life conditions, etc. Apart from mechanical designing projects, computer-aided design is also used in many other fields like animation, fashion, architecture.
2. One of the major advantages of CAD is that manual drawing is no longer required, it is much more exhausting and gives a headache at times when you try to visualize the view, in CAD software you can view the design from all directions with help of a mouse or a keyboard.
3. Storage and sharing become very easy and in modern times it also becomes practical. With one search and one click, you can share your idea with anyone anywhere.
4. Apart from all the technical advantages, designing a project on software gives a chance to college students to learns more about the manufacturing processes and apply the theory they have learned into practical ideas. Hence for many students designing projects is the fun part.

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Best design projects for mechanical engineering students

With these dull times rolling, stop wasting your time at home and become an expert in computer-aided designing just by sitting at your home and doing these design projects. Make the best use of this time and experience the fun in designing. Here are some of the best mechanical designing projects-

1. Part design in Solidworks

Solidworks is a widely accepted tool for computer-aided designing and if you want to learn part designing in Solidworks from scratch then this course is just right for you. As part of this course, you will learn the following concepts

• Parametric Design
• Key and Shaft Designs
• Constraints and Forces
• CAD Drawing
• Simulations on CAD

The course will have 10 live lessons of 2 hours each. If you have any doubts you can clarify them with the experts during live lessons. Even if you miss a class you can refer to the recorded lesson of that class. Another interesting thing about this course is that you can take part with your friends as a team. Don’t worry you will get the reward if you work hard, on completion of the course you will get an assignment as your test and when you submit your assignment you will get a certificate that will help your portfolio.

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2. Sheet metal and surface modeling in Solidworks

From the nose of an F1 car to an aircraft, all complex design requires sheet metal and surface modeling. This online course will help you learn these skills. Surface modeling or surfacing helps with the aesthetics of the products and makes it more desirable for the end-user. With the help of surfacing, you can unleash your creativity and can even design mechanical projects of your choice like an automobile chassis or a gaming mouse.  You will also learn structural reinforcement and features in sheet metal.

In this course, you will learn about how to create structures like gussets and ribs, surface modeling, using dies and punches, wireframe and sheet metal design.

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3. Career building course from CATIA

This is an in-depth online course in CATIA, you will learn everything from part designing to surface modeling. You will design projects starting from a simple wrench to modeling a robotic arm. You will develop in-depth knowledge about part modeling, parametric design, mechanism modeling, sheet metals, assembly, simulations in CATIA, and surface modeling.

This course aims to help you with your career because CATIA is one of the most used industry-based tool and it will help you a lot if are looking to pursue designing as your career. Even if you aren’t it is always beneficial to have an expert level knowledge of industrial software.

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4. Regenerative braking course

For all the automobile fanboys or fangirls out there, here is an online course to build up your knowledge as well as a very interesting design project for you. Regenerative braking is a new and upcoming technology in electric vehicles, with this system, the car generates and stores energy on braking. Later that same stored energy helps in braking. Creative right?

You will learn in detail about this technology and design CAD for this technology, run simulations and optimize it.

5. Differential gear design using Autodesk Inventor

In this mechanical design project, you will use gain knowledge about various types of gears and design a differential gear from scratch. You will also perform the dynamic simulation after designing the gear.

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Apart from these, there are many design projects for mechanical engineering students which will help you improve your CAD skills. Any aspiring mechanical engineer takes enthusiasm in such design projects to get more experience and learn new things. So, with the help of an expert, you can also master your skill and shine!

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Best design projects for mechanical engineering students