Design Process and Charts

cohesiveness

attractiveness of team membership; social cohesiveness not highly related to performance and task cohesiveness leads to effective performance

precedence diagram

illustrates the major actions to achieve and the relationships/dependencies between them; needs time ordering and flow; identifies actions that must be completed before other actions (serial flow) and actions that can be completed simultaneously (parallel flow); Critical Path Method shows critical activities (greatest impact on project schedule); precursor to Gantt charts or project schedules--example in notes

dysfunctions of a team

inattention to results, avoidance of accountability, lack of commitment, fear of conflict, absence of trust

timekeeper and recorder

keep the team on task and document assigned actions or processes used by the team

design problems

ill-defined (not given enough info), multiple solutions, unclear timelines (when to stop improving), non-standard constraints (budget, client needs, resource availability), and multiple requirements we are trying to balance

What are mistakes an engineer can make in the design process?

making assumptions, not allotting planning time (engineering becomes tinkering), and poor management of time/materials/money

administrative roles

meeting coordinator, timekeeper, recorder, encourager/gatekeeper, devil's advocate; roles rotated except for devil's advocate, which is all members

interdependence

member outcomes are determined by other members' actions; functioning independently or competing with teammates leads to sub-optimal outcomes

Purdue Engineer of 2020 statement

- abilities: leadership, teamwork, communication, decision-making, diverse/global perspectives - knowledge areas: science, math, problem solving, multidisciplinary, analytics - qualities: innovative, strong work ethic, ethical, adaptable, entrepreneurial, curious

Problem Presentation Method

Given (can include sketches), Find (include units), Representation (given values shown as variables), Model (solve in terms of variables, brief explanations of numbered steps), Assumptions, Solution (plug and chug), Validation (quantifiable evidence); no solution or validation for symbolic problems

work breakdown structure (WBS)

a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and defines the total scope of a project (100% of deliverables); vertical or horizontal hierarchical structure dividing the project scope into chunks where each level provides further detail; does not need time ordering or flow; focus on what and not how (requirements on deliverables); important in highlighting overlapping scopes (should establish project boundaries and ownership of deliverables); see examples in notes

engineering design

a thoughtful, systematic process in which designers generate and evaluate design concepts whose form and function adhere to clients' objectives or users' needs as well as constraints

syllabus course expectations

active contributor to in-class discussion, preparation for lecture by reading, learn material in all course content, attendance, teamwork and interdependent learning, meet outside of class

What are strategies to solve team problems?

assigning roles, creating a code of cooperation, having trust, focusing on collective outcomes, managing conflict by pushing on ideas and not individuals, effective project management and meetings

goal

broad, informal statement of what is to be accomplished

design stages (engineering design model)

defining problem, gathering info, identifying constraints and criteria, developing solutions, selecting and refining a solution, and communicating results (documentation); non-linear progression and iteration through stages; defining the problem includes assigning roles (working in parallel vs. working in series, emphasizing team strengths) as well as making a plan, goals, and firm decision points (timing); step 0 is identifying an opportunity

alternatives in design

different ideas with different potential outcomes; best alternative relative to requirements chosen; brainstorm, model ideas, and compare/contrast ideas

syllabus learning objectives

engineering approaches to systems, innovation, computational methods, modeling at the microscopic and macroscopic levels, data analysis/statistics, design process, collaboration and communication, engineering education and career opportunities, physics, algorithms, record-keeping, ethics

stages of team development

forming, storming (conflict), norming (cohesion), performing, adjourning

iteration in the design process

going back to any step at any time; opportunities for insight

encourager/gatekeeper

hypes up quiet members and holds back dominant members

needsfinding

identifying all stakeholders and their unique needs through surveys, focus groups, and interviews; customer needs may be ambiguous or informal and qualitative ("needs to look cool")

Gantt charts

must have task names, start/finish dates of each task (graphically), and dependency relationships; may have task duration (horizontal bar length), current completion level, and who is doing the task; arrows connecting to the middle of the top edge rather than the left edge means the first task is necessary to complete the second but not start it; see examples in notes

functional block diagram (fbd)

pictures or charts produced by applying systems thinking; focus on design structure and subsystems without worrying about details; functions are in rectangles with short, descriptive names that do not identify a specific mechanism; inputs and outputs have short names, are not in rectangles, and have arrows pointing to function blocks; all inputs, outputs, and blocks are connected to at least one other entity; multiple arrows can go into or out of the same block but inputs/outputs can only have arrows in one direction; see toast and ice examples in notes

meeting coordinator

prepares agenda, sets up meetings, and monitors the decision-making process

methods for generating a simple model (estimation problem)

simple shapes (e.g. cylinder for oblong shape), analogies, limits on answers, scaling up or down, extrapolating from samples (assuming estimated value follows logically from known)

team

small group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable; different from a group because they have a common mission/goal, mutual respect, and a deadline

systems thinking for filling a glass of water example

system entities are perceptual system (inputs current and desired water level, output increasing/decreasing flow rate which affects container system), water flow system, and container system; interactions continue until desired water level is reached and water flow system is turned off

engineering specification

table with column headings customer need, technical need, technical requirement, and target value; target value often has a margin of error and represents higher performance than the technical requirement (to meet other needs, out-perform competition, etc.); technical requirement may be imposed by regulations, past practice, etc.; criteria = technical need and constraint = technical requirement

validation methods

using simple estimation methods to generate simpler models, confirming that the answer falls between known-sensible bounds, comparing experimental data against values generated by the model, and determining the answer via an independent solution procedure

systems thinking

views an object or process as a collection of entities that interact with each other (each with its own inputs, operations, and outputs); identifies the solution's underlying structure and emphasizes flow of some quantity (energy, information, matter, etc.); features are purposeful ambiguity, abstraction/big picture, interdependence of entities, and focus on what entities are present over what needs to be done (features not algorithms)