Engineering Reports and Case Studies – Biomedical Engineering

 

Engineering Studies – P4 Biomedical Engineering – The Engineering Profession

This topic investigates biomedical engineering reports and case study examples. Highlighting Australian innovation and achievement in biomedical applications are key concepts for this topic.

Key Concepts

  • The key components of biomedical reports
  • Why engineering reports are relevant
  • Engineering research, documentation and communication
  • The process of developing a product considering:
    • Material selection based on material properties
    • Manufacturing selection based on material properties
    • Structural design based on mechanical analysis
    • Testing and evaluation processes
  • Australian achievement and innovation

Discussion Questions

Reports

  1. Why might an engineering report be written on a biomedical product?
  2. What might be typical types of data collected for an engineering report?
  3. Why is the test data and the method of testing important?

Case Studies

  1. Discuss examples of biomedical engineering products.
  2. Discuss an innovation in material application in a biomedical application.
  3. Discuss an innovation in manufacturing techniques used to produce a biomedical product.
  4. What can be stated about how engineering decisions were made, and how are engineering ‘criteria’ used to determine the ‘best’ engineering answer?
  5. What role did Australian Standards have in the development of the product and in the communication of the design?
  6. How do you think the object might be developed in the future?

 

A sample case study;

    1. Discuss the development of an object in terms of:
        1. Engineering design process
        2. Safety guidelines and Australian Standards
        3. Materials selected
        4. Environmental considerations
        5. Manufacturing techniques
        6. Technical communication
        7. Engineering reports
    2. Discuss the process for design development (teamwork, project management). What role do engineers take at this stage? How might the design of the object have changed during development?
    3. Describe examples of material choice and manufacturing options. Explain specific detail about material and manufacturing choices. What criteria are used to make engineering decisions with materials and processes? What are the technical specifications?
    4. What mechanical analysis was conducted? Was this done using particular testing equipment or modelling? How are the specifications for the product determined regarding strength and other properties?
    5. What role did engineers take in developing manufacturing specification and the technical drawings/graphics?
    6. What might have been the biggest engineering challenge in developing the object?
    7. What modelling was done? Was a prototype constructed and how was that made? How was the prototype tested?
    8. When was the engineer report written?
    9. What are the future plans?