The Good Products, Bad Products class, ME 314, Winter Quarter, 2012, Stanford University

Classes for Winter Quarter begin in two days, January 9^th, this year.  That has made for a long vacation, so everyone will either be unusually ready to go, or unusually ready for more vacation.  David Beach has been teaching the  Good Products, Bad Products course since I retired in 1999, and has changed it in many ways, although he has kept the intent of the course the same.  He has continued to use my notes, and now that they have been published as a book, he is using it as a text in the course.  It is listed as a graduate course in the school of engineering, but will include students from other parts of the campus as well.  As of now, there are some 80 students signed up for the course on campus, and another 40  part-time students who will be taking it remotely over the internet.  A good sized crowd.

An idea of what occurs in each meeting of the Good Products, Bad Products course is here.  The students will be reading my book and doing exercises similar to the ones listed at the end of the chapters.  They will write short papers on each, and I will talk about them and include some of the more interesting ones on this blog.  They will also read two other books.  Classes will involve guest speakers representing companies and individuals concerned with and producing high quality products, lectures from David Beach, and discussions of the reading material, the speakers, and whatever other product-quality related concerns arise during the quarter.  The schedule of the course may change in deference to such concerns. 

I will also be making comments in the blog on various aspects of quality, probably at times going beyond the material in my book.  I will from time to time give you updates on the course.  You are encouraged to comment on my posts, and I will forward the comments to the class, should they fit the activities that are under way. The more diversity in input to the students, the better.

The class concludes with a series of consistently impressive presentations on the material in my book.  Groups of students select the topic areas, do appropriate research, and being a bright and talented bunch with a love of media, come up with presentations that are entertaining as well as educational.  I obviously cannot deliver the entire course to you in a blog, but I will keep you in touch.  Stay tuned!