Reform Groups and Analyze Preliminary Designs

Schedule Week 6 Lab Small Group Presentations Form into three large teams Agree on problem statement and specs Analyze preliminary designs Prepare poster Mid-term grades Solidworks seminars Week 7 Lab Design Review at 10am Week 8 Lecture (Tuesday) Poster Session

New Groups Group A - Juelz Groups 1 and 6 Group B - Emily Groups 2 and 5 Group C - Nathan Groups 3 and 4

Reforming Pair up with someone from the other team – introduce yourselves and then they will introduce you to the group Name Project strengths/interests (fabrication, drafting, management, communications/reporting, etc.)

Analyze Preliminary Design Each team presents their design again Q&A to understand designs better Discuss client feedback List advantages and disadvantages of each design Keep open minds

Brainstorm and Start Concept Evaluation Brainstorm/build on the ideas of others Use decision matrices to evaluate ideas Think about feasibility and meeting the client’s needs Refer to your problem statement and specifications Do research and talk to shop professionals Create drawings and mock-ups Record questions for client

Teamwork and Project Management Decide on a leadership structure Shared leadership Rotating leadership Single-person leadership Assign tasks based on members’ interests and skills Trust your team members Work toward consensus Encourage communication

Guidelines for Team Meetings Have an agenda that is sent out in advance Keep meeting minutes Have everyone participate Don’t interrupt Don’t reject ideas by being insulting (“that’s ridiculous”), condescending (“that’s interesting, but”) or dismissive (“no, you’re wrong”)…instead ask for the reasoning behind the idea. Require consensus, not majority rule

Design Reviews A scheduled, systematic evaluation of a design In industry, typically may involve internal experts, the client, members of the client’s organization, and outside experts Purpose is to ensure the design meets client and user requirements and does not have any fatal flaws – NOT to persuade the reviewer that your design is wonderful Reviewers role: Ask questions, identify problems and make suggestions

Design Review Prepare a <10 minute PowerPoint Presentation Describing your design is the most important task Visuals Graphics – Can use own computer and open graphics program, if helpful Mock-ups Rehearse - Divide up speaking between a few team members Prepare a questionnaire that you want reviewers to answer about your design Make enough copies for the rest of class and reviewers, use portion of a page (cut-up before class) Ask general questions about the strengths and weaknesses of the design and at least one specific question about areas that particularly concern you Record all comments – at least one member should be a scribe during the review See grade sheet on lab moodle site

Project Scheduling Use a Gantt chart to visualize the sequence of when work on tasks should begin and end and what tasks need to be worked on simultaneously Use a Responsibility Allocation Matrix (RAM) chart to identify and assign tasks at a fine level of detail Ideally have both shared on google docs or similar so everyone can access and update

Gantt chart from Industry

Example Gantt Chart from Student Project

Example Gantt Chart from InterEgr 160 Project

Gantt Chart Guidelines Brainstorm all the tasks that need to be done Group tasks into categories, differentiating between main and subtasks List the tasks along the vertical axis Begin at the top, listing tasks that must be done first End the list with your final deliverables Divide your horizontal axis into columns, labeling each week Use a horizontal bar to show estimated beginning and end of each task Revise weekly to check your progress and add tasks

Sample RAM Chart Here’s a RAM chart that covers nine days:

RAM Guidelines Identify main and sub-tasks Assign primary and secondary responsibilities Try to spread responsibilities evenly Include columns for “due date” and “person who completed task” Include a key to define any symbols

Designing the Poster Follow guidelines sent by John Murphy – set size FIRST Use more graphics than text Keep text concise Use bulleted lists of phrases rather than long paragraphs Put a title banner across the top Use font sizes to indicate the hierarchy of information Arrange information in sections that correspond to the message (example problem/solution) Use arrows to point out features/solutions Also include course details, names, etc. See examples in lobby Grade sheet posted on our section website Have us check your poster before you print it!