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Nontraditional manufacturing (NTM) is becoming increasingly important in modern engineering. Therefore, it is important to develop up-to-date pedagogic materials for the area. This paper reports collaborative efforts among three universities in such a development sponsored by National Science Foundation of USA. The features of the development include systematic introduction, recent research results, and web implementation with interactive capabilities. This paper is based on an extensive web based course with animations, including Java applets, Shockwave animations, VRML animations, and QuickTime movies. The development is aimed at upper level undergraduate and introductory graduate students. Areas of focus include Laser Material Processing, Electrical Discharge Machining, Electro-Chemical Machining, and Abrasive Water Jet Machining. Cross process innovation are also presented. Needs for further pedagogic developments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineering challenges faced by traditional manufacturing has facilitated the development of nontraditional manufacturing (NTM) processes. The multidisciplinary nature and the diversity of NTM education have posed more challenges than education in traditional manufacturing processes. To overcome these challenges, the different NTM processes are systematically presented from introductory to advanced levels by web implementation with interactive capabilities. Apart from text, images and sound, the interactive methods employed in this project include: interactive exploration of physical processes with JAVA applet; Macromedia Shockwave based animation; 3D virtual reality (VR) animation of NTM process simulations; and 2D movies of process simulation by finite element modeling (FEM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]