Product Engineering Process
MIT's hands-on mechanical engineering course puts undergraduates into teams of 15 to 20 to design and build working alpha prototypes of new products around a yearly theme. Materials cover the full product development cycle: estimation, sketching, sketch models, spreadsheets, geometric models, mockups, and functioning prototypes, alongside lessons on team roles, consensus building, and communication in large groups. The course is structured to mirror a real product development firm, with teams learning to manage group dynamics as much as engineering tasks. It culminates in a public presentation to roughly 1100 attendees, including practicing product designers, entrepreneurs, and academics, plus a large webcast audience. OpenCourseWare provides the syllabus, assignments, and project materials from MIT, free to access, with no certificate offered.