Will you design the machines of the future?

Car engines, agricultural machines and ship winches. These are all products that have passed through the hands of a mechanical designer. Will you be the future developer of a smarter cooling system for trains or light weight gearbox for wind turbines? Or will you improve machines and their maintenance? The exchange programme Applied Mechanics deepens your knowledge of mechanical-engineering constructions, design tools and methods, and helps you excel in designing and improving machinery and machine parts.

How to apply: To apply to Windesheim, please complete and submit the application form available at www.windesheim.nl.

Classes will be scheduled between 8:30 AM and 18:30 PM, with a maximum of 8 hours a day.

Two weeks before start of the semester, the schedules are published.

What's Applied Mechanics like?
Deepen your knowledge of mechanical design during this bachelor's level full-time programme (30 ECTS credits) and immediately put theory into practice during several real, company-driven projects. On top of this, you and your team will be working on an engineering assignment for one or two days a week to solve a problem for a real company.

Applied Mechanic project (8 ECTS)
Deepen your knowledge of mechanical design during this bachelor's level full-time programme (30 ECTS credits) and immediately put theory into practice during several real, company-driven projects. On top of this, you and your team will be working on an engineering assignment for one or two days a week to solve a problem for a real company.

Composites (2 ECTS)
The module Composites introduces you to the basic calculation methods for stress and strain in composite materials. You will use design software such as SolidWorks Cad and SolidWorks Simulation Add-lns.

Modelling and validation (4 ECTS)
In this module you will make a full stress and deformation analysis of a complicated (“real world”) design problem, by an iterative combination of theoretical calculations, FEM/analysis and practical testing. You will use design software such as SolidWorks Cad and SolidWorks Simulation Add-lns.

Design Tools (5 ECS)
Learn about a range of design tools in this practical training. After an introduction, you get to choose which of the design tools you would like to specialize in. You should choose at least two tools, but you may choose more if you want. You can choose from the following tools (they are examples, the actual overview is provided in the course description every year):

• Maintenance Engineering: With this design tool you learn to gain insight into choices that an engineer has to make with regard to availability, reliability, safety, maintainability and life cycle during the design phase of a technical system.
• CE-marking: it deals with technical -and legal aspects, safety and liability concerning the construction of machines and products.
• Solid Works Motion/PDM: Motion is an extensive Multibody package which , among others, is used during the development or design of cars and rollercoasters. The practical lectures about Product Data Management are provided in cooperation with the company VMI. You acquire knowledge about important matters and recent developments in this area (specifically of interest for mechanical engineers).
• FMECA: During this part of the course a solid base is established for design methods and procedures to determine and to improve the reliability of machines. Failure mode, effects and criticality analysis deals with e.g. loads on contact surfaces, friction, wear and lubrication.
• Non-Linear FEM: during these practical lectures you not only learn to deal with distortions and non-linear material behaviour but with the limitations of conventional calculations as well.
• Hand sketching: With this design tool you will learn to concretize, clarify and communicate design ideas in a fast and accessible way through simple but effective sketches

Drive technology (5 ECTS)
During the module Drive technology, you will learn more about machine construction, such as electric motors and machine parts. The lectures about electrical drive systems focus on interaction motor and load, DC-motors, stepper motors, AC-power, 3-phase systems and induction motors. Your study of machine parts covers interference fit, couplings and bolt connections. The lectures are supported by a practical training in labs.

Dynamics and vibration (4 ECTS)

This part consists of two series of lectures during which kinematics, dynamics and vibration analyses in practical situations of machine drives will be dealt with. This includes:

• Relative motion analysis using rotating axe and coriolis acceleration
• Linear and angular momentum of a particle
• Impact mechanics
• Linear and angular momentum of a rigid body
• Basic concepts of vibration
• Vibration analysis
• Spring elements
• Mass or inertia elements
• Damping elements

Technical English (1 ECTS)
The objective is to provide a training in translating several technical texts into English so that you will be able to write a graduation report in English (when required) or an executive summary without mistakes in grammar, spelling, idioms and style.
You will practice your writing skills by summarizing and translating short texts that are related to applied mechanics.

Professional Communication (1 EC)
For this course you choose two communicative subjects. Possible subjects are: personal branding, target group-oriented writing and presentation techniques (in-depth).

Semester Duration
For more information, please go to: www.windesheim.nl

Accomodation
For more information, please go to: www.windesheim.nl.