The student factory at Auburn University

Electrical Engineering curriculums typically concentrate first on electronic circuit analysis and then on design. However, elegant circuit designs often do not translate into commercially successful products. Business, safety, manufacturing and marketing issues are also key elements in viable product development. To involve the students in the broader scope of electronic product development, a two quarter Student Factory Senior Design project has been created. In this class, students progress from product concept to actual product sales and cover all of the steps in between. The objective of the course is to provide the students with firsthand experience in the complex interactions involved with product development and commercialization. This paper describes the class organization and operation. The product developed, a desktop thermometer, is also discussed.