Plans for a Course on the History of Mechanisms and Machine Science

Many universities offer optional courses within the curricula of studies that students can choose based on their interests. Usually, they are short courses of 3 ECTS (credits) but in some cases they can be proposed up to 6 ECTS. Moreover, they are often common to several degree courses, so the topics covered should be more general and transversal with respect to the specific engineering curriculum. In this paper, the background significance of the History of Mechanisms and Machine Science (MMS) is discussed by re-proposing a short course in technical formation curricula for engineers, preferably at Bachelor levels. After reviewing some previous preliminary experiences, the course proposal is outlined as based on the expectations in learning outcomes and with a general structure referring to basic literature. The target is to provide historical education backgrounds within the formation curriculum of a modern engineer.