Prototypes to Products
Course facts
- Payment: Free, no certificate
- Credits: Non Credit
- Learning style: Self-paced, start anytime
- Resources: Design Assignments with Examples; Lecture Notes; Other Video; Projects with Examples; Written Assignments
MIT OpenCourseWare details
- As taught in: Fall 2005
- Department: Edgerton Center
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Take a sustainable-development project toward field use: prototyping, Gantt charts, design for manufacturing, field testing and design reviews.
A working prototype is only a step toward something people can use. This class gives teams that have already started a sustainable-development project a setting to keep developing it for field implementation. All classwork relates directly to each team’s own project, with weekly consulting from the instructor and guest speakers on proposal writing, irrigation and refrigeration. There are no exams.
What You Will Achieve
- Plan a project with Gantt charts and detailed schedules
- Compare design options using Pugh charts and selection matrices
- Apply design for manufacturing to a prototype
- Present a project at formal design reviews
Program Overview
Planning and Resources
Getting a team and a schedule in place.
- Prototyping levels
- Project management
- Where to get resources
- Pugh charts and selection matrices
Design and Testing
Moving a prototype toward real use.
- Design for manufacturing
- Field testing and customer surveys
- M1 design review poster session
Funding and Final Review
Sustaining the project beyond the class.
- Fund raising opportunities and techniques
- Proposal writing
- M2 final presentations
Course Completion
Job Outlook
These skills are relevant to product development, social entrepreneurship and engineering work in international development.
Good for: Teams already developing a sustainable-development product who want a structured plan and sample tools for moving it toward field use.
Keep in mind: The class works around your own project and weekly consulting, neither of which comes with these materials. Taught in 2005, it offers only a few sample student projects and videos.
Bottom line: A practical template for running a project course or team, more useful for its structure than its content.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the M1 and M2 reviews?
Two presentations during the term. M1 is a midterm poster session, and M2 is a more formal final presentation in front of guest reviewers. Evaluation sheets for both are published.
What sample projects are shown?
Selected student projects include internet kiosks and solar water disinfection, known as SoDis, with materials from the design reviews.
What is the videotape homework?
Students destroy a videotape as part of the design for manufacturing session, a hands-on homework that accompanies that topic. The assignment is listed among seven homeworks.
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