Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling (Coursera)

Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling (Coursera)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to this course on Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling. This is part of the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization. In this course, I’ll cover the characteristics and appropriate uses of a variety of prototyping materials, including cardboard, plastic, wood, and aluminum. I’ll also cover some of the common forms of traditional machining used in making prototypes, as well as more advanced manufacturing tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and more!

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

By the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of common prototyping materials and manufacturing processes, as well as the situations in which their use is most appropriate. The hope is that by having a better understanding of these materials and machines, you will be able to better develop high-quality prototypes. I’m excited to teach this course as I am really passionate about the content in it. So without further ado, let’s dive into the world of rapid prototyping!
Course 3 of 3 in the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling Specialization.

What You Will Learn
You will understand the strengths and weaknesses of common materials and tooling used for rapid prototyping and situations for when to use each one.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Introduction
Hello, everyone! Welcome to this course on Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling. This is part of the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization. In this course, I’ll cover the characteristics and appropriate uses of a variety of prototyping materials, including cardboard, plastic, wood, and aluminum. I’ll also cover some of the common forms of traditional machining used in making prototypes, as well as more advanced manufacturing tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and more! By the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of common prototyping materials and manufacturing processes, as well as the situations in which their use is most appropriate. The hope is that by having a better understanding of these materials and machines, you will be able to better develop high-quality prototypes. There's a lot of really exciting content to cover in this course, so without further ado, let’s dive into the world of rapid prototyping!

WEEK 2
Module 1: Rapid Prototyping Materials
In this module, you will learn about basic material properties such as density, toughness, and strength. You will also learn about the different characteristics of common prototyping materials like cardboard, plastics, wood, and aluminum.

WEEK 3
Module 2: Traditional Machining
In this module, you will learn about the different types of traditional machining tools that are useful for making prototypes, such as the hack saw, bandsaw, chop saw, hack saw, drill press, lathe, and mill.

WEEK 4
Module 3: CNC Machining
In this module, you will learn about many different CNC machines that can be used to fabricate prototypes. In particular, this module will go into detail about the considerations and choices an engineer needs to make when making a part with a 3D printer or a laser cutter.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

CAM and Design Manufacturing for Mechanical Engineers with Autodesk Fusion 360 (Coursera) Coursera
Autodesk

CAM and Design Manufacturing for Mechanical Engineers with Autodesk Fusion 360 (Coursera)

With design for manufacturing, our design process focused on the design over its cost, but always keeping in mind how parts needed to be made. With manufacturing at the core of a design, we're able to fix potential problems in the design phase rather than after production. In many cases, the end product is made up of an assembly of different pieces to simplify manufacturing or to achieve specific design goals. Each piece represents a certain tolerance and put together, things might not work or fit if they weren’t accounted for in the design.

Nov 11th 2024
4 Weeks
Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS) (edX) EdX
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,EPFLx

Micro and Nanofabrication (MEMS) (edX)

Learn the fundamentals of microfabrication and nanofabrication by using the most effective techniques in a cleanroom environment. Microfabrication and nanofabrication are the basis of manufacturing for nearly all modern miniaturized systems that are ubiquitously used in our daily life. Examples include; computer chips and integrated sensors for monitoring our environment, cars, mobile phones, medical devices and more.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (Coursera) Coursera
University at Buffalo,The State University of New York

Advanced Manufacturing Enterprise (Coursera)

Enterprises that seek to become proficient in advanced manufacturing must incorporate manufacturing management tools and integrate data throughout the supply chain to be successful. This course will make students aware of what a digitally connected enterprise is, as they learn about the operational complexity of enterprises, business process optimization and the concept of an integrated product-process-value chain.

Sep 21st 2026
4 Weeks
Manufacturing Process Control II (edX) EdX
MIT,MITx

Manufacturing Process Control II (edX)

Learn how to control process variation, including methods to design experiments that capture process behavior and understand means to control variability. As part of the Principles of Manufacturing MicroMasters program, this course will build on statistical process control foundations to add process modeling and optimization.Building on formal methods of designed experiments, the course develops highly applicable methods for creating robust processes with optimal quality.

Oct 13th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing with Fusion 360 (Coursera) Coursera
Autodesk

Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing with Fusion 360 (Coursera)

Design for manufacturing is the process of designing parts, components, or products with the understanding surrounding design requirements for a specific manufacturing method. This course explores the design for manufacture workflow and shows how to validate models and create the G code, the programming language needed to instruct the CNC machine on how to move.

Nov 11th 2024
4 Weeks
Machine Learning Rapid Prototyping with IBM Watson Studio (Coursera) Coursera
IBM

Machine Learning Rapid Prototyping with IBM Watson Studio (Coursera)

An emerging trend in AI is the availability of technologies in which automation is used to select a best-fit model, perform feature engineering and improve model performance via hyperparameter optimization. This automation will provide rapid-prototyping of models and allow the Data Scientist to focus their efforts on applying domain knowledge to fine-tune models. This course will take the learner through the creation of an end-to-end automated pipeline built by Watson Studio’s AutoAI experiment tool, explaining the underlying technology at work as developed by IBM Research.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Digitalisation in Aeronautics (Coursera) Coursera
Technische Universität München - TUM

Digitalisation in Aeronautics (Coursera)

The instructors of the online course "Digitalisation in Aeronautics" present a spectrum of different aviation research and application areas, exploring the impact of digitalisation in this specific field, including the effects of digitalisation in simulating the interaction of aircraft components, in overall aircraft development and related decision-making and in the communication channels used within aircraft. A broad and varied range of applications and digital solutions are explored in detail in the individual modules of this course.

Sep 21st 2026
4 Weeks
Advanced Manufacturing Process Analysis (Coursera) Coursera
University at Buffalo,The State University of New York

Advanced Manufacturing Process Analysis (Coursera)

Extreme variability is a fact of life in manufacturing environments, impacting product quality and yield. Through this course, students will learn why performing advanced analysis of manufacturing processes is integral for diagnosing and correcting operational flaws in order to improve yields and reduce costs. Gain insights into the best ways to collect, prepare and analyze data, as well as computational platforms that can be leveraged to collect and process data over sustained periods of time. Become better prepared to participate as a member of an advanced analysis team and share valuable inputs on effective implementation.

Sep 21st 2026
3 Weeks
Generative Design for Part Consolidation (Coursera) Coursera
Autodesk

Generative Design for Part Consolidation (Coursera)

Designing a product is only part of the process. Now, can that product be manufactured? In many cases the end product is made up of an assembly of different pieces to simplify manufacturing. With generative design and additive manufacturing, we can now take a different approach to the process of designing and producing complex products by ultimately reducing the number of parts and steps in an assembly while optimizing a design for strength and weight reduction.

Nov 11th 2024
4 Weeks
Autodesk Fusion 360 Integrated CAD/CAM/CAE (Coursera) Coursera
Autodesk

Autodesk Fusion 360 Integrated CAD/CAM/CAE (Coursera)

Design, engineering, and manufacturing are undergoing a digital transformation, and the need for a collaborative product development environment is becoming an ever-growing requirement. Autodesk® Fusion 360™ meets this need by connecting CAD, CAM, and CAE in a single cloud-based platform unlike any other tool of its kind. This course builds upon digital manufacturing trends and foundational CAD concepts discussed in Course 1 of this series by introducing Fusion 360 as a problem-solving tool.

Nov 4th 2024
5-12 Weeks
General AI in Action: From Theory to Real-World Impact (Coursera) Coursera
Coursera Instructor Network

General AI in Action: From Theory to Real-World Impact (Coursera)

General Artificial Intelligence (AI) has proven its value across industries. As learners explore the world of AI, they need to familiarize themselves with the myriad of possibilities available for leveraging AI to get faster results, better outcomes, and improved efficiencies. Most AI applications generally considered, involve marketing and retail. However, AI has expanded far beyond meeting and exceeding customer expectations. There are current AI use cases around the world; for learners to understand and prepare for the future, they need to know how AI is being used beyond retail spaces.

Jul 6th 2026
1 Week
Supply Chain Principles (Coursera) Coursera
Georgia Institute of Technology

Supply Chain Principles (Coursera)

This course will provide a solid understanding of what a supply chain is all about. The course: provides an introduction to Supply Chain; leverages graphics to promote the Integrated Supply Chain model; emphasizes understanding the Extended Supply Chain; presents a holistic approach – Incorporating People, Process, and Technology; calls-out industry-specific supply chain; leverages discussions, videos, quizzes, and questions for consideration; provides awareness of career path opportunities; presents emerging and futuristic trends in supply chain and given that at GT we are focused on developing what’s next in the world, we include Discussion of emerging and futuristic trends in supply chain. There is very little math involved in this course – so don’t worry at all about your math skills.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks