2.72
Elements of Mechanical Design

What alumni say about the course...

SCOTT MCCEUN
I believe that one of the biggest strengths of 2.72 is the practical implementation of engineering principles. For example, our lathe team spent considerable time designing the spindle/spindle housing. Our goal was to minimize run-out while staying in budget. However after we assembled the spindle, we measured an unacceptable run-out of 0.005 inches. Finally after a lot of trouble-shooting, we realized that the press fit between the spindle shaft and the inner race of our tapered roller bearing was 0.0005 inches too big. After we removed our bearings using a sledgehammer (not recommended) and sanded our bearing surfaces of the spindle shaft on a lathe, we reassembled the spindle and measured the run-out as a more respectable 0.001 inches. Had we had more time to remanufacture our shaft and buy new bearings, I feel that the spindle run-out would have been less than 0.0005 inches. Other classes often fail to emphasize key design issues when it comes to the practical implementation of the design. I had no idea that a turned diameter off by 0.0005 inches would be such a big deal!

RYAN SLAUGHTER
2.72 was one of my favorite and most useful courses at MIT. It is a great combination of structure and freedom, with useful lectures (bearing design, fatigue calculations, structural loops, bolted joints. . .) and truly hands-on labs that coincide with a semester-long design project. Small group (~3-5) interaction with the professor and TA make the class feel like a real design job over which you have real control and real deadlines. I have used the intuitions and methods from this class in all subsequent design projects in which I have been involved.

KARINA PIKHART
2.72 taught me how to effectively apply what I've learned in my other coursework at MIT. We were expected to use the big "take home" messages from our core classes (2.001-2.009) and solve problems involving static beam bending, heat transfer, etc., in a back-of-the-envelope way of looking at a complex system. At the same time, I learned new tools like how to perform stiffness tests, use calibration equipment, use transformation matrices, and design and select some of the most fundamental mechanical elements - flexures, bearings, fasteners, etc. The class was one-of-a-kind, and prepared me well for classes like 2.009!

MEAGAN ROBERTS
I really enjoyed 2.72 because it gave me an opportunity to step through a detailed design of a machine. We had to take into consideration potential errors in the system and possible mitigations. I have used the concepts from this class in my subsequent internship, class projects, and in my current full-time job.

JEAN CHANG
Most of my knowledge of machine design has come from this 2.72. It has just the right balance between traditional classroom work (lectures, problem sets) and hands-on work so that everything I learned from the lectures was directly applied to the term project, and reinforced my knowledge of the topic. The teaching staff was wonderful- you were able to tell that more than anything, Professor Culpepper wanted you to learn. I highly recommend this class to anyone who is interested in design- it gives you a great understanding of how to design machines with the correct number of constraints, the correct bearings, bolts, etc. As I start to think about which quals to take next year, I recognize that this class is the best class to prepare you for taking the design quals- it teaches you how to take your Classroom learning and start thinking about how to apply it to real-life design problems. Delete | Reply | Forward | Redirect | View Thread | Denylist | Allowlist | Message Source | Save as | Print Move | Copy Back to Inbox < >

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