Nondestructive evaluation of aircraft skin: product design and development in the sophomore engineering clinic

The four engineering departments (electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil) at Rowan University (USA) rely extensively on semester-long project modules called "Clinics" to provide practical applications for coursework taught within the respective departments. The engineering clinics are typically team-taught by faculty from more than one discipline; the student project teams are also multidisciplinary. The focus is on product design and development, students and faculty bring skills acquired from their respective disciplines to bear on the design process. This paper describes a sophomore level clinic experience wherein students and faculty from the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering departments collaborated to design and develop a portable device that could be used to nondestructively inspect aircraft skin for cracks.