Introduction

The group project is intended to provide both reinforcement [a positive - pride in performance] and evaluation [a negative - your grade] of the skills and tools acquired during the course. The Group Project Presentation represents a report issued by an engineering design team [your student group] to corporate management [your instructor] which defines and defends a proposal for commitment of company resources to the design and manufacture of a marketable product. It is to be understood that failure of management to commit to your proposal raises questions concerning your value to the organization and, in hard economic times like these, will likely terminate the need for your professional services.

The product shall be of your own [group] choosing; it can be as simple or as complex as the creative juices fueling your imagination permit. The single requirement established by your instructor is that the product perform a function - mechanical [bend, twist or stretch], thermal, electrical, optical or magnetic - and this function must be able to be described by mathematical equations. Your design must address the obvious issues of optimization in materials selection, but also demonstrate consideration of other design issues such as cost, reliability, responsibility social, civic and environmental - to name but a few.

Unlike IPPD, which requires a working prototype of a product or process, your project will likely end with the system level design - the primary design process involving embodiment of the original preliminary concept. You will carry your design from the dream world of possibility to the real world of practicality. Although your product need not be manufactured, you must demonstrate that it is manufacturable.

The Project consists of three major “deliverables”:

[1] a preliminary product design specification [PPDS], in which a product concept is generated and validated against customer needs. Preliminary design specifications are established and provide the basis for both performance and materials selection. Once this PPDS has been submitted and accepted, any change in project conceptualization will result in a penalty of 10% of your project score. Do not take this deliverable lightly!

[2] the materials selection analysis [MSA] is performed once product performance has been decomposed into individual functional operations. The MSA must demonstrate proper coupling between function and constraints resulting in definitive performance indices. Failure to achieve such definitive indices will result in an automatic decrease of 10% of your project grade -this deliverable represents the most crucible element of the design sequence; be thorough and precise!

[3] the final group product design report [GPDR] will be submitted in both written and Powerpoint presentation form at the end of the course. In addition to content from the other deliverables, it must attend to any other issues relating to the manufacturability of the product which are considered to be important to management.

 

I have no objection to the idea that work on projects originally intended for other courses may be submitted for credit for EMA 4714 [e.g. IPPD], so long as all of my requirements are fulfilled regardless what the objectives were in the other courses. I also have no objection to your use of elements of the EMA 4714 project in other courses - be advised that my permission is not a guarantee of reciprocation by other faculty members - check first!