Bringing the real world into the classroom is a key focus of Texas A&M University’s Dwight Look College of Engineering, and two individuals in the Department of Mechanical Engineering are doing just that.
Dr. Andrew Duggleby, visiting assistant professor, and Yuval Doron, a lecturer in the department, are using the industry experience they gain on a daily basis through their company, Exosent Engineering, in the way they approach teaching mechanical engineering students.
The company, which designs and manufactures transport trailers for hauling hazardous materials and liquids on the highway, uses cutting edge computer software that allows it to account for every aspect of the design process down to the final weld.
In their classes the pair continuously apply knowledge gained in daily operations at the company to their mechanical engineering classrooms by teaching students to understand how engineering is evolving through the new technologies available.
“I teach students to think about the big changes in the engineering process,” said Duggleby. “I want them to be able answer, prior to even starting a design, what questions are you asking? What are you thinking about? I want them to think about the realities of fabrication. How objects have to be bent, formed or welded will impact their designs.
“I stress to students there may be 100 different ways to build a part and end up with the same functional apparatus, but only some designs will lead to a high quality, low cost, better performing apparatus.”
Since starting the company in 2010, Duggleby and Doron have taught mechanical engineering courses such as engineering science and engineering design, and senior design courses such as the FSAE car build.
Doron shares his fabricating knowledge with his students, which he believes will offer unparalleled value to their academic experiences.
“I’ve been a fabricator for over 25 years,” said Doron. “Six of those years were spent as a propulsion engineer in the U.S. Navy.”
Current mechanical engineering student Ben Skinner was hired by the company to perform computer aided drafting using software he learned through the mechanical engineering program.
“The classes I’ve taken at A&M really emphasized design work. The technical electives I chose focused on the CAD work I was interested in,” said Skinner. “What I have learned through Texas A&M mechanical engineering has allowed me to come to Exosent Engineering and use what I’ve learned in their classrooms to my job here at Exosent on a daily basis.”