Design Proposal A document prepared to (a) justify the need for the project, (b) describe the engineering process to be taken, (c) outline the expected results, and (c) estimate and justify the cost.  A detailed plan of the project usually for the purpose of justifying/requesting substantial investment of time, effort, and resources A formal design proposal should include the following five components: –Objective (why?) –Background/Introduction (who? Where?) –Methodology (how? When?) –Expected results (what?) –Costs (how much?) Reference: Engineering by Design, by G. Voland, chapter 2.5

Proposal (cont.) Objective: A concrete statement describing what the project is trying to achieve and why. The objective should be written such that it can be assessed at the conclusion of a project. A well-posed objective has been commonly described to possess the following characteristics: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time framed (SMART). Background: who will be served (clients, users), where the products will be used (environment, special conditions). Also include existing solutions, prior work demonstrating a broad understanding of the project. Methodology: state how the project will be tackled with detailed description of the engineering process to be taken.

Proposal (cont.) Methodology (cont.): Tasks and responsible persons should be identified. An important element will be a detailed schedule for the expected completion of these tasks. The most widely used schedule is the Gantt chart (a graphical representation for easy reading). (read Chapter 7 of textbook for more information)Gantt chart –Terminology: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a grouped list of tasks with an estimate of efforts and resources required to complete the task.Work Breakdown Structure (Critical Path Method) (CPM) (Critical Path Method) (CPM) is another useful tool to indicate time schedule. It has the advantage to identify more clearly tasks with different priorities for decision making. Indication of sequential and/or parallel relationship between tasks.

Proposal (cont.) Expected Results: expected outcomes and what types of deliverables should be described. Both risks and benefits involved should be discussed. Costs: estimated how much will the project cost (the bottom line of a business decision): money, time, labor, materials, facilities, all other economical factors.

Assignment 2, due Feb. 4 (Wednesday) Prepare a design proposal for the design project your team chooses (a senior capstone project, or a class project, or a project of interest)senior capstone project Your team has to turn in the description of the project chosen by Jan 28 (no longer than one page). Include all five components discussed in your proposal. Note: A description/discussion is needed for each of the five sections indicating how do you implement these concepts (perform a self-analysis in the appendix at the end of your proposal). For example, specify why your objective has satisfied the SMART characteristics. Your grade will also be dependent on how thoroughly you describe your tasks.