The scenario is that the student is working in the engineering department of a manufacturing plant. The plant has access to a wide variety of machining tools, so it is customary for them to make or repair their own parts as things wear out. Many of the parts are unique to the equipment at the facility, so it is impossible to simply order one from some outside supplier. Even if a part was available, it is cost prohibitive to buy new.

Students will be provided with a small piece of machinery that they must reverse engineer the dimensions. For middle school level students, the geometry will be kept rather simple and the measurements straightforward. For high school students, the geometry can become more complex, requiring some drafting skill, caliper use, and higher level CAD design.

Once the students take all the necessary measurements, then using CAD (Tinkercad for the lower grades), they will build up a virtual mock-up of the part. From there, the option would be to teach additive or reductive design. The part could be recreated using either a CNC or 3D printer.