Abstract:

This paper describes the use of product teardowns in an electronic systems cost modeling course at the University of Maryland.  As part of a semester-long project, each student must choose a product with significant electronics content and determining the manufacturing cost of the product using a combination of top-down cost analysis (to determine what the product must cost) and a detailed bottoms-up model (that they calibrate using the top-down analysis).  Products considered by students range from complex systems such as mobile phones to relatively simple systems such as memory sticks and MacDonald's Happy Meal^® toys.  Using product teardowns and reverse engineering ideas has proven to be an effective vehicle for educating students on practical manufacturing cost modeling of electronic systems.

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