Prototypes to Products
This MIT Edgerton Center course gives student teams a structured setting to carry sustainable-development projects, begun in D-Lab or Product Engineering Processes (2.009), toward field implementation. Weekly lab sessions let an instructor consult directly on each team's hardware, covering prototyping techniques, materials selection, design-for-manufacturing, field-testing methods, and project management. All coursework ties directly to the students' own projects rather than generic problem sets, and there are no exams. Teams are encouraged to enroll together so the class functions as a continuation of prior fieldwork rather than a fresh start. Materials are available through MIT OpenCourseWare under its standard open license, including syllabus and assignment structure, though the course is most valuable to those already carrying a project into it rather than newcomers.