TASC Engineering Design case studies
TASC Engineering Design · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The TASC Engineering Design credential is aimed at candidates who want to demonstrate that they can carry an engineering idea from a vague need through to a tested, documented design. It suits students on engineering or pre-engineering pathways, career changers building a portfolio, and technicians or makers who already build things but want their process assessed against a structured standard. The TASC Engineering Design case studies are 5 cases and about 3,544 words.
1The Rattle That Only Appears When Warm
A team is finishing a battery-powered handheld pump. In room-temperature bench runs the unit is quiet, but in an environmental chamber at 45 °C a sharp rattle appears between 60% and 80% of maximum speed, and disappears above 85%.
708 words, about 4 min2Choosing Between Two Gearmotor Concepts Under a Cost Cap
A design team must pick a drive for a compact conveyor. Requirements: 12 N·m at the output, output speed 30 rpm ±10%, continuous duty, 20,000-hour target life, unit cost at 5,000/year no more than 85, and operation from 24 V DC.
721 words, about 4 min3The Seal That Leaked Only in the Field
A small enclosure for an outdoor sensor uses a molded gasket compressed by six M3 screws into a plastic housing. Bench testing with a 0.5 psi air-decay leak test passed 50 of 50 units at 20 °C.
706 words, about 4 min4The Team That Kept Redesigning
A five-person student-and-junior team is building a small autonomous cart for a competition. The rules require the cart to carry a 2 kg payload around a marked course in under 60 seconds, stay within a 400 mm width, and stop within 300 mm of a marked line.
692 words, about 3 min5The Bracket That Was Cheaper Until It Wasn't
An engineer specifies an aluminum mounting bracket for a consumer product. A supplier proposes switching to a glass-filled nylon molded bracket to cut unit cost from 4.10 to 1.60 at 50,000/year.
717 words, about 4 min