The design project described in this paper began as an effort
between the two authors - one teaching Thermodynamics
and the other teaching Mechanical Design to the same group
of students - to seek common educational ground in their
respective course presentations. The result was a design
challenge in which the authors asked their junior engineering
undergraduate students to design and build an air
compressor as a project conducted simultaneously in their
Thermodynamics and Mechanical Design Courses. Within
only three weeks fiom project assignment, the students had
designed, fabricated, and successfully tested their air
compressors in a final course competition. The success of
this project has demonstrated the feasibility of establishing
cross-curricular links between engineering subjects of
engineering disciplies as diverse as Thermodynamics and
Mechanical Design.