Introducing plastic product design into the machine design curriculum

We present our paradigm of plastic product design as a necessary part of the mechanical engineering design curriculum and how these concepts have been a historical part of the mechanical engineering educational agenda, though in other venues. We discuss the practical and accreditation problems associated with incorporating the 'new' design features in an existing machine design course. A separate design course, dedicated to plastic product design, is also outlined. This last alternative is likely the best bridge from a machine design curriculum without plastics concepts to one with metallic/nonmetallic product design.