2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Engineering Undergraduate major in Mechanical Engineering

Mecano-creative Project

Academic unit or major: Undergraduate major in Mechanical Engineering
Instructor(s): Teaching Staffs
Class Format: Experiment
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms)
Class: -
Course Code: MEC.Q323
Number of credits: 004
Course offered: 2025
Offered quarter: 3-4Q
Syllabus updated: Mar 19, 2025
Language: Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

Students will form groups of approximately seven members to plan and design a new and creative mechanical system. This course integrates and applies fundamental skills in mechanical design, including design, drafting, and manufacturing, which students have learned in previous courses. The course focuses on developing the following competencies:
1. Generating ideas for problem-solving through creative thinking.
2. Planning and designing skills to transform ideas into creative and tangible forms.
3. Practical mechanical design capabilities.
4. Effective communication techniques to accurately convey ideas to evaluators through presentations and design reviews.
5. Teamwork skills and a creative mindset for forming, managing, and leading a team.

Course description and aims

By completing this course, students will be able to:
1) Conduct discussions within a group to solve problems and successfully plan and execute an original and creative project.
2) Utilize specialized knowledge of mechanical engineering to design machines that meet specific requirements.
3) Apply mechanical engineering expertise to materialize their designs, identify and analyze issues, and iteratively improve them.
4) Develop practical communication skills to convey ideas, functions, and mechanisms of their work by preparing presentation materials.
5) Effectively manage a team by leveraging diverse individual strengths and demonstrate leadership with a strong sense of ownership.

This course corresponds to the following learning goals:
4. Development Skills – The ability to organize and analyze problems (including inquiry and problem-setting skills).
6. Advanced Expertise in Mechanical Engineering.
7. The ability to apply specialized knowledge to solve new problems and make creative proposals.
8. The ability to collaborate with others to plan and execute projects.

Student learning outcomes

実務経験と講義内容との関連 (又は実践的教育内容)

This course is taught by instructors with practical experience in robot development in the industry. Leveraging this experience, the instructor will provide guidance on project management and conduct hands-on training in the development of fully functional prototypes.

Keywords

Planning skills, design skills, creative thinking, design thinking, prototype, group work, manufacturing technology, precision engineering, control technology, comprehensive skills, management skills, discussion skills, presentation skills

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

The course is conducted through group work. In the first 3Q, lectures will focus on the design process for developing creative mechanical systems, followed by team exercises. In the 4Q, each team will apply the knowledge learned in the first half to iteratively carry out the following steps: concept proposal, mock-up (prototype) creation, analysis and design improvements. Slack will be heavily utilized to communicate within the team. The goal is to complete one machine per team, with each group handling manufacturing and production, including management, and presenting their final project. Throughout the course, the instructor will conduct two midterm reviews to help the mechanical system's development.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Orientation and Safety Training	Exercises will be assigned during the lectures. Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 2	Team Building: Ice Breaking	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 3	Drawing and 3D Printing	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 4	Laser Cutter	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 5	How to Draw Rough Sketches (Visual Communication)	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 6	Idea Generation (Checklist Method, Brainstorming)	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 7	Expanding Ideas Using AI	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 8	Idea Convergence and Selection	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 9	Idea Evaluation through Prototyping	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 10	Iterating the Design Process and Presentation Format	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 11	Schedule Management in Agile Development	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 12	Various Mechanisms 1	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 13	Various Mechanisms 2	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 14	Mindset in Team Activities and Design Principles	Assignments must be submitted by the next class.
Class 15	Team Project: Idea Creation Using 2D/3D Prototypes	Expand ideas within each team.
Class 16	Team Project: Idea Evaluation through Prototyping	Narrow down the direction through the creation and evaluation of multiple prototypes.
Class 17	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Material Processing and Design of Major Parts	Manufacture parts necessary to materialize the solution concept.
Class 18	Team Project: [DR1] Concept Design Review	Instructors will review mechanisms and project management, identifying any issues.
Class 19	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Problem Solving and Re-selection of Parts	Redesign based on review results.
Class 20	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Redesign of Mechanical Systems	Manufacture based on the redesigned system following review results.
Class 21	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Effectiveness Verification of Redesigned Parts	Verify the functionality of the redesigned parts based on review results.
Class 22	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Complete Material Processing	Manufacture the mechanical system for the concept realization.
Class 23	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Final Adjustments and Complete Material Processing	Manufacture and adjust the mechanical system for concept realization.
Class 24	Team Project: [DR2] Detailed Design Review	Instructors will review the mechanical system solving the problem and identify any issues.
Class 25	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Improving Modifications	Redesign and fine-tune based on review results.
Class 26	Team Project: Implementation of Ideas – Completion of Mechanical System	Complete the mechanical system.
Class 27	Team Project: [DR3] Final Presentation	Present and demonstrate the completed mechanical system.
Class 28	Reflection on the Design Process and Cleanup	Submit exercise assignments.

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend a certain length of time outside of class on preparation and review (including for assignments), as specified by the Tokyo Institute of Technology Rules on Undergraduate Learning (東京科学大学学修規程) and the Tokyo Institute of Technology Rules on Graduate Learning (東京科学大学大学院学修規程), for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

No specific textbook is assigned. Lecture materials will be distributed via Slack and T2SCHOLA.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

(In Japanese)
Saito et al., Design Thinking for Engineers, Shoei-sha, 2017, ISBN-13: 978-4798153858.
Hatamura et al., Practical Design (Revised Edition), Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-4526073403.
Nakao et al., Techniques for Creative Design, Nikkei Technical Press, 2008, ISBN-13: 978-4817192813.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Individual grade: 50%, Team activity grade: 50%. The individual grade will be evaluated comprehensively based on submitted assignments and peer review sheets. The team activity grade will be evaluated comprehensively based on design reviews, preparation for the final presentation, and the presentation.

Related courses

XEG.B101 ： Engineering Literacy I
XEG.B102 ： Engineering Literacy II
XEG.B103 ： Engineering Literacy III
XEG.B104 ： Engineering Literacy IV
MEC.A202 ： Mechanical engineering literacy
MEC.Q310 ： Machine Tool Training
MEC.H202 ： Machine elements
MEC.H203 ： Machine drawing

Prerequisites

Students must have an interest in and willingness to collaborate with team members to engage in creative design and production. Due to a limited number of practical equipment, selection will be conducted if the number of participants exceeds the capacity.

Other

This course will use T2Schola and Slack. Instructions for joining Slack will be posted on T2Schola. Please check T2Schola before the first class after completing your course registration.