General Information

• About MAE
• Map and Directions
• Safety
• Design Clinic
• Sponsors
• Students
• Rules
• Application (PDF)
• Computer Information
• Employment
• Department Resources

Ground Rules The intention of the Design Clinic is offer a mechanical engineering design experience in an educational environment. The Design Clinic is about teaching not research. Under normal circumstances, this means that: The University does not patent anything that derives from the work of the Clinic. The Design Clinic is not about intellectual property, it is about applying expertise to discrete, real world problems. Project sponsors must let projects be presented and published if the students so desire. Confidential information is not exchanged unless a separate confidentiality agreement is signed. In such a case, the agreement will be between the company and the Regents of the University of California. However, special arrangements may be made if intellectual property is involved. A sponsor is free to engage students and faculty as contractors. This means that a research contract must be drawn up. In such a case, data and intellectual property rights can remain with the sponsor. A sponsor is also free to engage students as employees working on their sites, in which case they would sign normal employee confidentiality agreements.

Conceptual Design Drawings

Guiding principles:

• Students must be able to make a presentation to complete their academic work. However, information provided by a company can, when requested and identified in advance, be treated substantially as proprietary, modified, or withheld during class presentations and from reports.
• Students do not put themselves at legal risk by virtue of taking an academic course (such risks are assumed by the Regents)
• Sponsors get to see all work done on their project.
• Student work and ownership of original material generally belongs to the student who created it, regardless of whether the students worked on campus or off. However, the ownership of work authored by a student under a project contract will be governed by the terms of the contract.

Miscellaneous issues:

Outcomes

In every case so far, sponsors have been delighted with the results, and students have received a uniquely-valuable, educational experience. However, there are no guarantees of results.

Types of projects

Because the Design Clinic can involve faculty and students from all departments on campus, there is no limitation on types of projects. However, the Clinic accepts and rejects projects per its own priorities, just as a project sponsor proposes and rejects projects per its own priorities.

Ethical expectations

We expect participants to conduct themselves with the same integrity and high standards of conduct expected of all members of the UC Davis community. Students are expected to meet regularly with their sponsor liaisons and faculty advisors.

Proprietary Projects

Due to the pedagogical nature of the Design Clinic, projects containing proprietary information are not appropriate. Students have multiple design reviews in an open setting with other design teams. Contact the Design Clinic staff for more information.

---

Questions or comments to MAE Design Clinic Web Response.

2011-07-18 16:01