Make and test projects are used as introductory design experiences in almost every engineering educational institution world wide.

However, the educational benefits and costs associated with these projects have been seldom examined. Make and Test Projects in Engineering Design provides a serious examination of the design of make and test projects and their associated educational values. A taxonomy is provided for the design of make and test projects as well as a catalogue of technical information about unconventional engineering materials and energy sources. Case studies are included based on the author’s experience of supervising make and test projects for over twenty-five years.

The book is aimed at the engineering educator and all those planning and conducting make and test projects. Up until now, this topic has been dealt with informally. Make and Test Projects in Engineering Design is the first book that formalises this important aspect of early learning in engineering design. It will be an invaluable teaching tool and resource for educators in engineering design.

This is a book about the invention and testing of ideas. By describing how to generate engaging problem situations for engineering students to solve it inspires original currents of thought.

Make-and-test (MaT) is a practical way of testing ideas that challenges the validity of the ideas themselves and the manufacturing skills of the participants. Much of the project work described makes use of such simple materials as balsa wood and candle wax with the occasional appearance of the more exotic: fibre-glass-epoxy composites, for example; the properties and uses of these are examined in depth. All of the inventions described are intended to be well within the range of ingenuity and skills of first- and second-year engineering undergraduates. They can also be useful in stimulating the problem-solving skills of professional engineering and architectural designers so that everyday design questions and more one-off and personal undertakings such as the periodic design challenges offered by professional engineering societies can be interpreted more creatively. The major part of the book is devoted to case examples based on the author’s twenty-five years of experience in supervising MaT work but there are many opportunities and exercises throughout the text to explore new MaT projects.

In essence, Make and Test Projects in Engineering Design encapsulates the experience of engineering design from the uncertainty of "Can I tackle this problem?" to the joyous "Aha!" when a solution is discovered. An invaluable teaching tool and resource for the engineering educator and all those planning and conducting make and test projects, this is the first book that formalises an important aspect of early learning in engineering design.