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IPD Course Descriptions
Background | Core | Engineering Breadth | Design Breadth | Business Breadth | Electives
For full listing of all University of Pennsylvania courses check the Course Register.
Background Course Descriptions
Engineering Basics
MEAM 101. Introduction to CAD/CAM. (B)
This course covers the fundamentals of engineering design and manufacturing, engineering practice and the application of computer aided tools. The topics include: Graphical representation of machinery and machine drawing, Product definition and Computer Aided Design (CAD) 3-D wire frame and solid modeling using Pro/ENGINEER; System Assembly; Tolerancing; Introduction to Computer Aided Engineering analysis techniques including finite element modeling (FEM); Fundamentals of manufacturing processes and machine tools; Introduction to CNC machines and rapid prototyping using modern manufacturing techniques. The course includes tours of engineering and manufacturing facilities and a design project.
Design Arts Basics
ARCH 300. Product Design Fundamentals.
An introduction to the basic concepts of applied arts in the design of simple three-dimensional objects of use. The description, projection, and fabrication of objects are studied through a series of workshop exercises and seminar discussions. Hand sketching, parametric solid modeling computer-aided design software, and fabrication technologies are used to create and develop virtual models, drawings, and simple prototypes.
Marketing/Finance Basics
MKTG 101. Introduction to Marketing. (C)
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concepts, analysis, and activities that comprise marketing management, and to provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. The course is also a foundation for other Wharton courses, and for advanced electives in Marketing. Topics include marketing management, pricing, promotion, channels of distribution, slaesforce management, and competitive analysis.
MKTG 411 Introduction to Marketing
Discusses the forces that shape a company's marketing structure and the methods of marketing goods and services. Topics studied include the role of marketing in the economic system, the industrial and consumer marketplaces, market segmentation, consumer demand, and buying motivation. Students will discuss retail and wholesale marketing structures, product management, pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies. Using case studies, the unit will also look at the relation of government to marketing, market research, and methods for measuring the efficiency of a marketing operation.
Core Course Descriptions
IPD 511. Creative Thinking & Functional Iteration in Design.
This is a creative & iterative problem solving course that uses a series of mechanical design challenge projects to move students into the broad realm of unpredictable often incalculable time-constrained problem solving. It explores a wide variety of problem definition, exploration and solving "tools," and a variety of surrounding "design thinking" topics, such as ethics and the design of experience. Drawing and prototyping are used in the projects for ideation, iteration, speculation and communication.
IPD 515. Introduction to Product Design.
This course provides tools and methods for creating new products. The course is intended for students with a strong career interest in new product development, entrepreneurship, and/or technology development. The course follows an overall product design methodology, including the identification of customer needs, generation of product concepts, prototyping, and design-for-manufacturing. Weekly student assignments are focused on the design of a new product and culminate in the creation of a prototype.
Breadth Course Descriptions
IPD 501. Integrated Computer-Aided Design, Manufacturing, and Analysis.
Prerequisites: MEAM 201 and MEAM 210; or gradute student status or permission from instructor. The majority of today's engineered products move through an advanced computer-aided workflow which greatly speeds design and process time. This course will explore the fundamental components of this workflow through a combination of lectures, hands-on exercises, and a semester design project. General course topics include: fundamental design principles, project definition and needfinding, advanced computer-aided design, rapid prototyping techniques, computer-controlled machining, and an in-depth exploration of the modern analysis and simulation tools that have revolutionized the way in which products are designed.
MEAM 510. Design of Mechatronic Systems.
Prerequisite(s): Junior or senior standing in mechanical engineering and a first course in programming, or permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed with an advanced level undergraduate course. It may be taken by M.S.E. students for credit. M.S.E. students will be required to do some extra work, they will be graded on a different grade scale than B.S. students, and they will be required to demonstrate a higher level of maturity in their class assignments. MEAM doctoral students will not be able to count 400/500 courses as a part of their degree requirements. In many modern mechanical systems, mechanical elements are tightly coupled with electronics used for control or for sensing and possibly with microprocessors. Mechatronics is the study of computer-controlled electromechanical systems. This course is intended to provide an integrated introduction to the design of such systems. The course is intended for juniors and seniors in computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and systems engineering. The central focus of this course will be the completion of a team-based project, to be tested in an in-class competition during the final week of the course. Topics to be covered include: a review of mechanics; instrumentation, sensing and measurement; actuation and actuator dynamics; analog and digital interfacing; micro-processor technology and programming; basic control theory.
IPD 514. Design for Manufacturability.
Prerequisite(s): MEAM 101 or equivalent, MEAM 210 or equivalent, Senior or Graduate standing in the School of Design, Engineering, or Business with completed product development. This course is aimed at providing current and future product design/development engineers, manufacturing engineers, and product development managers with an applied understanding of Design for Manufacturability (DFM) concepts and methods. The course content includes materials from multiple disciplines including: engineering design, manufacturing, marketing, finance, project management, and quality systems.
IPD 516 (MEAM 516). Advanced Mechatronic Reactive Spaces
This course teaches advanced mechatronics concepts that include the design and implementation of networked embedded systems, large-scale actuation, advanced sensing and control. This course pairs design school and engineering students to form interdisciplinary teams that together design and build electro-mechanical reactive spaces and scenic/architectural elements in the context of the performing arts. The two disciplinary groups will be treated separately and receive credit for different courses (ARCH746 will be taught concurrently and in some cases co-located) as they will be learning different things. Engineering students gain design sensibilities and advanced mechatronics in the form of networked embedded processing and protocols for large scale actuation and sensing. Design students learn elementary mechatronics and design reactive architectures and work with engineering students to build them. The class will culminate in a collection of short performance pieces inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with both mechatronic and human performers from the Pig Iron Theater Troupe, A final paper will be required that is ready for conference proceedings.
IPD 526. (ARCH 726) Furniture Design.
This course provides a platform, in the form of furniture, to execute and deploy architectural & engineering principles at full scale. It will be conducted as a seminar and workshop and will introduce students to a variety of design methodologies that are unique to product design. The course will engage in many of the considerations that are affiliated with mass production; quality control, efficient use of material, durability, and human factors, such as comfort. Students will conduct research into industrial design processes, both traditional and contemporary, and will adapt these processes into techniques to design a prototype for limited production. Instruction will include; model making, the full scale production of a prototype, its detailing; design for mass production and the possibility of mass customization; design for assembly / disassembly; research of materials, industrial processes and finishing; furniture case studies; software integration, 3d scanning, optimization studies; Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) and a site visit to a furniture manufacturer. Students will have access to the fabrication lab and will participate in demonstrations given by Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich.
IPD 527. (ARCH 727) Industrial Design I.
(Prerequsite: ARCH 300) (Note: This couse was previously listed as MEAM 512. Prior to 2008, it was a Background Course. For MEAM undergraduates, this course will only count as a Free Elective.) This course provides an introduction to the ideas and techniques of Industrial Design, which operates between Engineering and Marketing as the design component of Integrated Product Development. The course is intended for students from engineering, design, or business with an interest in multi-disciplinary, needs-based product design methods. It will follow a workshop model, combining weekly lectures on design manufacturing, with a progressive set of design exercises.
IPD 528. (ARCH 728) Industrial Design: Design of Contemporary Products.
This course was designed to explore intersections of functionality and performance using an experimental platform to uncover opportunities within the built environment to create domestic products. Provides practical insights into the material manipulation and aesthetic experimentation that are essential for the design and fabrication of products. Lectures and case studies help students to learn from examples and develop their own designs. Through a series of exercises, students design and fabricate a prototype using actual materials. The course addresses problems unique to product design, such as scale, weight, cost and production.
IPD 530 401 (ARCH 730 401): Building Product Workshop: TRANSWALL
Course Overview: As Craig Vogel notes in The Design of Things to Come, we are in a new economic age that is in need of a new renaissance in product development, one that leverages multiple minds working in concert. With this mindset, this interdisciplinary workshop guides students through the product design process from design brief to concept generation in one semester, working firsthand with Transwall, a leading manufacturer of demountable wall systems, to focus on a specific product need. The design opportunity looks for the next generation of pre-manufactured wall systems; getting away from field constructed walls and looking at critical issues of mass-produced wall systems: flexibility, mobility, structural stability, acoustics, transparency/opacity, and operability. During the workshop, students will explore the context that creates the unique need for a new product and have an opportunity to conceptualize their design ideas through sketches, scale model studies and partial prototypes.
IPD 532 (ARCH 632) Surface Effects (Instructor: Veikos)
The visible surfaces of a building work to constitute and characterize its full range of presence, organizing and structuring perception and performance through design. This provocation finds its bearings in the pictorial practices of architects and the drawings and buildings they produce. In the course, the perceptual effects of architecture's built surfaces are directly related to the design of its elements of construction, its specific material and tectonic assemblies. Exhibition designs, works of installation art as well as works of architecture and research in contemporary building enclosures will be considered in lectures that demonstrate a range of effects created by selected architects and artists, often working very closely with engineers. The seminar will be conducted as an interdisciplinary workshop where students will work in teams to develop digital and material models towards the design of their own dynamic and environmentally responsive surfaces.
IPD 544. (ARCH 744) Digital Fabrication (in Architecture).
A seminar and design workshop that explores associative and parametric CAD-CAM strategies, to enable an interactive continuity between conception and fabrication. Through parametric 3D constructions, students will explore how to link dink different aspects of the architectural projects, such as: (1) design intention; (2) control of variation and adaptation; (3) construction constraints; (4) digital fabrication processes. The course emphasizes the cross-fertilization of formal, technical and performative aspects of the design activity.
ARCH 746. Advanced Mechatronic Reactive Spaces
This course teaches advanced mechatronics concepts that include the design and implementation of networked embedded systems, large-scale actuation, advanced sensing and control. This course pairs design school and engineering students to form interdisciplinary teams that together design and build electro-mechanical reactive spaces and scenic/architectural elements in the context of the performing arts. The two disciplinary groups will be treated separately and receive credit for different courses (ARCH746 will be taught concurrently and in some cases co-located) as they will be learning different things. Engineering students gain design sensibilities and advanced mechatronics in the form of networked embedded processing and protocols for large scale actuation and sensing. Design students learn elementary mechatronics and design reactive architectures and work with engineering students to build them. The class will culminate in a collection of short performance pieces inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with both mechatronic and human performers from the Pig Iron Theater Troupe, A final paper will be required that is ready for conference proceedings.
EAS 545 Engineering Entrepreneurship I.
Engineers and scientists create and lead great companies, hiring managers when and where needed to help execute their vision. Designed expressly for students having a keen interest in technological innovation, this course investigates the roles of inventors and founders in successful technology ventures. Through case studies and guest speakers, we introduce the knowledge and skills needed to recognize and seize a high-tech entrepreneurial opportunity - be it a product or service - and then successfully launch a startup or spin-off company. The course studies key areas of intellectual property, its protection and strategic value; opportunity analysis and concept testing; shaping technology-driven inventions into customer-driven products; constructing defensible competitive strategies; acquiring resources in the form of capital, people and strategic partners; and the founder's leadership role in an emerging high-tech company. Throughout the course emphasis is placed on decisions faced by founders, and on the sequential risks and determinants of success in the early growth phase of a technology venture. The course is designed for, but not restricted to, students of engineering and applied science and assumes no prior business education.
MKTG 756. (MKTG 212) Marketing Research.
Prerequisite(s): MKTG 101, STAT 101.
Appreciation of the role of marketing research in the formulation and solution of marketing problems and development of the student's basic skills in conducting and evaluating marketing research projects. Special emphasis is placed on problem formulation, research design, alternative methods of data collection (including data collection instruments, sampling, and field operations), and data analysis techniques. Applications of modern marketing research procedures to a variety of marketing problems are explored.
MKTG 776. (MKTG 476, STAT 476) Applied Probability Models in Marketing.
Prerequisite(s): MKTG101 high comfort level with basic integral calculus and recent exposure to a formal course in probability and statistics such as STAT 430 is strongly recommended.
This course will expose students to the theoretical and empirical "building blocks" that will allow them to construct, estimate, and interpret powerful models of consumer behavior. Over the years, researchers and practitioners have used these models for a wide variety of applications, such as new product sales, forecasting, analyses of media usage, and targeted marketing programs. Other disciplines have seen equally broad utilization of these techniques. The course will be entirely lecture-based with a strong emphasis on real-time problem solving. Most sessions will feature sophisticated numerical investigations using Microsoft Excel. Much of the material is highly technical.
OPIM 662. (OPIM 314) Enabling Technologies.
Technology is a vital input to the process of wealth creation in a networked economy. This course is about understanding emerging technology enablers with the goal of stimulating thought on new applications for commerce. The class is a comprehensive overview of various emerging technologies and culminates in a class-driven identification of new and novel businesses that exploit these enablers. No prerequisite or technical background is assumed. Students with little prior technical background can use the course to become more technologically informed. Those with moderate to advanced technical background may find the course a useful survey of emerging technologies. The course is recommended for students interested in careers in consulting, investment banking and venture capital in the tech sector.
OPIM 656. (ESE 522) Operations Strategy and Process Management. (C)
Prerequisite(s): OPIM 621, OPIM 631, and OPIM 632 or equivalent.
This course examines how organizations can develop and leverage excellence in process management. The first module focuses on operations strategy. In these classes, we examine what constitues an operation strategy and how organizations can create value by managing complexity, incertainty, and product development. In the second half of the course, we discuss recent developments in both manufacturing and service industries. Specifically, we examine initiatives in quality, lean manufacturing and enterprise-wide planning systems. The course is recommended for those interested in consulting or operations careers, as well as students with an engineering backround who wish to develop a better understandingof managing production processes.
Elective Course Descriptions
IPD 509. Needfinding.
Needfinding is an approach that puts people and their needs at the center of product development and business strategy creation. Over 90% of new products introduced into the marketplace fail. A good portion of these failures are due to lack of understanding of end consumers and their needs. To develop truly successful new products, it's not enough just to ask people what they need or want. Designers and engineers need tools and techniques to get beyond what people can explicitly state and determine their implicit needs. Needfinding is an approach for developing deep insights that provide strategic direction for corporations and open up new possibilities for product development. In this class students will gain a toolset from which to develop their own approaches to conducting researching for design: learning how to think about other people, about culture, and about new perspectives. They will also learn tactical skills: how to define research questions, how to conduct observations and interviews, how to interpret results, how to synthesize them into fodder for design, and how to communicate their findings in a way that is compelling and actionable for designers, marketers, and business strategists.
IPD 549. Product Development in Entrepreneurial Ventures
What is a product? A product is any artifact, service or experience for which a buyer is willing to pay. The field of Product Development which, of its nature, is an interdisciplinary activity has always been at the core of entrepreneurship. Though in modern mythology it is a solitary effort by a passionate individual, entrepreneurship is frequently more successful when pursued in an interdisciplinary environment. Product Development can be the critical element in an entrepreneurial effort. Though it rarely requires the greatest time investment, concentration of personnel, the majority of the funding or even the greatest depth of expertise to accomplish with basic competence, it can be the difference between a successful and failed venture. A poorly designed "product "can prevent a venture from being successful. An excellently designed product can make a competent business plan much more successful. A well defined and designed product can not only meet customer expectation but can create desirability. A well defined and designed product creates a connection with the user that can produce satisfaction and even pride of ownership. Through the review and analysis of case studies, class discussion, lecture subjects and field trips, this class will provide insight into the methodologies of product definition, creative processes, decision priorities, and aesthetic sensitivities required to appreciate and accomplish excellence in product development. Specific knowledge areas to be explored: Product design processes, User needs research, Intellectual property research, Experience design, Industrial design, Interface design, Product Driven Financial development.