ME 4054W: SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS Week 3 Thursday Documenting Your Design
Before we get started We have received feedback from an industry advisor that some of the students on their design team were not acting professionally. You should treat your project advisor as though they were your boss or someone who s interviewing you for a job. When meeting your new boss or entering a job interview and you meet Jeff Miller, don t call him Jeff. Call him Mr. Miller. He ll let you know if it s OK to call him Jeff. When sending emails, take the time to send a professional email. Don t send something that looks more like a tweet. The advisor also expected the students to be selfstarters, but they ve shown little evidence of it. 2
Notes Next Week Tuesday: No lecture Thursday: Creativity lecture and Ideation Bootcamp by Prof. Barry Kudrowitz 1:25-4:30 PM in Willey Hall, Room 175 You should inform your advisors that the team will be busy until after 4:30 next Thursday 3
Notes Jon Jeffryes at the Walter Library has created a web page with many resources that can help your team complete the project and design report. It is located at www.lib.umn.edu/course/me/4054w 4
Methods for Documenting Your Work Short Reports (memos) Drawings Design Notebooks Shared Documents Presentations Google site Final Report If you don t write it down no one will know what you ve done 5
Design Notebook Name, Contact Info, & Project on Cover Table of Contents Always Use Pen Date All Entries, Number Pages Paste in Outside Content ~10 Pages / Week What to Put In It? Calculations Ideas Sketches Experiments Interview Data Cost Estimates etc. 6
Design Notebooks Sample page 7
Design Notebooks 8
The Final Report: The Basics PURPOSE: Enduring record of your project GOAL: To enable a follow-up group to completely understand and reconstruct your design FORMAT: Professional (Excellent material, excellent writing) GUARANTEED READERS: Your advisor and the course coordinator & TA 9
Important Due Dates Due Date Deliverable Feb 14 Project Plan March 7 Draft Problem Definition* April 2 Draft Design Description* April 23 Draft Design Evaluation (Volume I) May 7 Final Design Report* * Design report deliverables include all supporting documents and appendices 10
Framework of the Final Design Report Volume I Design Report Problem Definition Design Description Evaluation Volume II (Appendices) Volume II Supporting Information Problem Definition Supporting Docs Design Description Supporting Docs Evaluation Supporting Docs Finding Report Guidelines: 11 http://www.me.umn.edu/courses/me4054/assignments/designreport.html
Title Page Example Color selection, layout and font selection are not good: Picture should not overlap title Text in bottom half should: not be italicized be smaller in a lighter color (e.g., white or yellow) Picture is a confusing Email addresses not needed 12
Title Page Example Good layout Font size is appropriate Picture does a good job of helping reader understand the context of the report Students should have Team members: header Student ID numbers not needed 13
Title Page Example Good layout Font sizing and color are appropriate B&W always works, although colors can make it visually appealing A well done cover sets the tone, but doesn t get the grade Logo works well The picture of the proposed solution is an excellent choice 14
Executive Summary How you would describe the project to your CEO in one page? Brevity and focus are critical What would you tell the Dean of CSE? Include the most important results in addition to the project description. Be quantitative. The manufacturing cost (material, labor, and burden) of the concrete pump in production quantities of 1000 is $420. Include quantitative results! 15
Executive Summary Synopsis of entire report Includes Problem definition Design description Design evaluation Results Conclusion 70% writing, 30% graphic (relevant to problem) 1 page 16
Executive Summary 17
Contributions Pages Who did what? List everything you did as an individual (considered in grading) Hard copies should be signed by each team member 18 Sample Contributions Page
Problem Definition Section Content Problem Scope Technical Review Background Info Previous Work in Field Design Requirements List of Figures or Tables Table of User Needs Table of Design Requirements Figures as necessary to describe prior work/background Need # Metric Imp. Unit Marginal Value 1 Panel width 1 Panel length Ideal Value 4 mm 300-635 150-720 4 mm 900-1900 300-2000 19
Problem Definition Supporting Docs Volume II Annotated Bibliography Literature Review: 1) Summary, 2) References Patent Search: 1) Objectives, 2) Search Criteria, 3) Findings User Need Research Concept Alternatives Concept Selection 20
Concept Generation & Selection Sections Volume II Briefly review concept generation process Show key example concepts Present selection chart Explain selection rankings Criteria Sample Concept Wt Factor Clamp Dead weight Surface flatness 25 5 5 Loading time 15 5 4 Total score 100 470 465 Rank 1 2 21 Selection Chart (Excerpt)
Design Description Content Summary of the Design Detailed Description Block Diagram Functional Description Overview Drawing Additional Uses List of Figures or Tables Functional Block Diagram Overview Drawing 22
Detailed Design Description "Walk the reader through" your final design Refer to lots of figures Create context for following sections Sample annotated figure 23
Design Description Supporting Docs Volume II Content Manufacturing Plan Manufacturing Overview Part Drawings Bill of Materials Manufacturing Procedure Implementation Plan Implementation Overview Process Drawings Component List Implementation Procedure 24 List of Figures or Tables Complete Drawings Block Drawings Gantt Charts Work Breakdown Structure
Evaluation Content Evaluation Plan for Design Requirements Evaluation Results Lab Reports: I M R D Format Discuss Prototypes that fulfill design criteria List of Figures or Tables Design Criteria Table Picture of Prototype fulfilling specific design criteria 25
Evaluation Supporting Docs Volume II Content Evaluation Reports Test Procedure Test Data Cost Analysis Environmental Impact Statement Regulatory and Safety Considerations List of Figures or Tables Test Method Setup/Apparatus Graphs or tables with test results or statistical analysis Summary table of cost breakdown and competitor comparison Matrix to evaluate environmental tradeoffs of alternate designs Table of major safety 26 concerns
Discussion Section Strengths and Weaknesses Candidly Discuss Results Reflect on Design Process Next Steps Hand-off Plan 27
References List articles, books, data sheets, URLs, etc. used in your project Use IEEE or ASME format Recommend Using RefWorks or Endnote to Manage Citations Durfee, W., How to Design Good, Journal of Good Engineering Design, Vol. 15, pp. 30-40, 1993. Reference example 28
Tips on Preparing the Final Report Develop a detailed, comprehensive outline now! Appoint an editor to set styles, collect sections, etc. Assign writing tasks Be sure all team members contribute (Individual contributions must be cited on the "Contributions" page) Create deadlines Rough draft Final copy 29
Tips on Organization Outline first! Make your most important points first! Define terms upon first usage (or in a glossary) Begin each chapter with a "roadmap" which describes the content of each of the following sections (1 paragraph) Begin each section with a "roadmap" of what's included in that section (1 paragraph) 30
Style Suggestions Use lots of short, simple sentences Use lots of short, simple paragraphs Avoid "It" & "There" as subjects Use proper citation technique 31
Equations Guidelines Equation number to the right of Equations Define all variables with units Reference the equation number 32
Figures Number each figure Add a concise descriptive caption Ensure plot axes are readable Ensure graphics are clear Figure 9.13. Candidate worst-stressed points at junction of beam with frame. 33
Graphs Use word figure instead of graph in caption Proper representation on scales No need for figure title Keep unit format for axis titles consistent Add trend line if necessary Legible size and font 34
Tables Guidelines No more than 25% of volume 1 should be tables Labels and units on columns, rows, and data Titles on all tables Table title/captions above tables Adequate space in cells for data and headings Table proximity to references or relevant data Bold column headings would add more clarity 35
Recommended Additional Information Re-read the web pages on the Final Report (Assignments link) Elements of Style, Strunk & White 36
Samples of Final Reports Samples in Report Archives Well Written Examples: Spring 2009: Biosensor Spring 2009: Shock 37
Questions? 38