Repeatability is the cornerstone of engineering product design, ensuring that a manufacturing process behaves identically each time so that a prototype can become a reliable, safe, consistent, and cost‑effective mass‑produced item. Course 2.70 (Fundamentals of Precision Product Design) focuses entirely on precision and repeatability.
Instructor Alex Slocum, the Walter M. and A. Hazel May Professor of Mechanical Engineering, stresses: “As an engineer you have an extra responsibility to overlook nothing; if you miss something, someone could be hurt or die.” His warning is serious, yet he injects fun by spelling the class name as “FUNdaMENTALs”.
Slocum’s mother, Mariana Polonsky Slocum, was a mathematics professor at MIT and taught him that “physics doesn’t care about your feelings.” Consequently, he wants students to see physical laws as a catalyst for creativity rather than a hindrance.
Throughout the course, students learn deterministic design, selection, and assembly of machine elements to build robust precision machines, instruments, and systems. They also apply Slocum’s FRED PARRC model—Functional Requirements, Ergonomics and Environment, Design Parameters, Analysis, References, Risks, Countermeasures—and engage in peer review and evaluation.
Graduate student Mariia Smyk notes, “We spend a lot of time tackling problems that just pop up in engineering. To me, it felt very representative of the grad work I was doing.” Another graduate, Adian Salazar, describes the class as “creative chaos” but agrees it solidifies the fundamentals, giving him confidence to deliberately mitigate risks in real‑world products.
By translating theory‑heavy concepts into tangible projects, students experience the blend of rigor and innovation that defines precision design.
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