About
'Makecourse-Art' is based on the Makecourse concept that was initially developed by Prof. Rudy Schlaf (Electrical Engineering) and Cand. Ph.D. Eric Tridas (Mechanical Engineering) in Spring 2014. Howard Kaplan, the Director of the USF Advanced Visualization Center made the course concept possible through building up a 3D printing facility, which enabled the Makecourse students to print their designs. The Makecourse has been successfully completed by about 140 students during the three semester it was taught at USF. Most of these students built amazing projects. A sampling of the Spring 2015 projects can be found here.
The main success of the Makecourse is that it inspired many students who had no prior experience with hands-on engineering to roll up their sleeves and invent, design and make an exciting engineering project. In the process they learned in rapid succession the basics of digital manufacturing, CAD design, 3D printing, electronic control systems and C++ programming, while building an exciting device of their own inspiration.
This experience encouraged Rudy Schlaf and Howard Kaplan to branch out and further develop this concept of teaching towards a more design oriented course objective. A central aspect of engineering is user friendly and inspiring design. Think of the iPhone or a Porsche. Beautiful and appealing, but also very well performing their respective tasks.
Hence, Makecourse-Art came about. It aims to encourage students of both Art and Engineering Colleges at USF to work together and build objects of appealing aesthetic and perfect functionality.
This connection between aesthetic and functional efficiency has always been an aspect of engineering. In fact, a few hundred years ago there was no real distinction between artists and engineers. Leonardo DaVinci is the prime example for this type of artist-engineer. His focus was on both inventing useful machines and devices but also implement them with a focus on aesthetic beauty. Furthermore, his teaching style was based on apprenticeship-style interaction with his students. The Makecourse tries to adapt this 'natural' teaching technique for the modern educational environment through direct interaction between instructors and students. All course materials are posted publicly as videos, while the time in the classroom is spent on working together on the student projects. The course culminates with an art exhibit, where the students will show their projects.
The main success of the Makecourse is that it inspired many students who had no prior experience with hands-on engineering to roll up their sleeves and invent, design and make an exciting engineering project. In the process they learned in rapid succession the basics of digital manufacturing, CAD design, 3D printing, electronic control systems and C++ programming, while building an exciting device of their own inspiration.
This experience encouraged Rudy Schlaf and Howard Kaplan to branch out and further develop this concept of teaching towards a more design oriented course objective. A central aspect of engineering is user friendly and inspiring design. Think of the iPhone or a Porsche. Beautiful and appealing, but also very well performing their respective tasks.
Hence, Makecourse-Art came about. It aims to encourage students of both Art and Engineering Colleges at USF to work together and build objects of appealing aesthetic and perfect functionality.
This connection between aesthetic and functional efficiency has always been an aspect of engineering. In fact, a few hundred years ago there was no real distinction between artists and engineers. Leonardo DaVinci is the prime example for this type of artist-engineer. His focus was on both inventing useful machines and devices but also implement them with a focus on aesthetic beauty. Furthermore, his teaching style was based on apprenticeship-style interaction with his students. The Makecourse tries to adapt this 'natural' teaching technique for the modern educational environment through direct interaction between instructors and students. All course materials are posted publicly as videos, while the time in the classroom is spent on working together on the student projects. The course culminates with an art exhibit, where the students will show their projects.