Project Description for Design Project I/II Fall 2018/Spring 2019 Prof Project Description for Design Project I/II Fall 2018/Spring 2019 Prof. Dennehy

The senior-level capstone design experience will consist of two parts Propose design projects Work on a design project selected from the ones proposed Complete the design work in the Fall semester Carry out the development work (manufacturing and testing) during the Spring semester

A few guidelines for the design projects Required to have a fully functioning prototype by the end of the Spring semester Need to incorporate the use of composite materials Project can be designed and developed using the capabilities found within the Department of Composite Materials Engineering

The design project proposal must demonstrate the merits of the proposed product Think of the proposal as being presented to venture capitalists (if you were an entrepreneur) or to upper management (if you worked for a company) Identify the product area Define and quantify the target market Describe the proposed product and its pricing

Define the target market Who are the customers for the proposed product? (including identifying specific customers you have access to – this will be critical later on in the design process) Quantify the size of the market (look through census info, data collected by societies/associations serving the target market, extrapolate data from representative sample, …)

Learn about competing companies and their products Describe the products Report the prices Describe initial product introductions and subsequent innovations Provide any historical information on penetration/growth of new product introductions Describe products that failed to make it in the market and try to understand why

Describe the proposed product Describe the proposed product (what differentiates it from the competing products?) Show by the construction of a work breakdown structure an understanding of the steps in the manufacturing of your product Demonstrate the profitability of your pricing strategy

Getting started – coming up with product ideas Benefits of composite materials over traditional materials?

Benefits of composite materials over traditional materials Specific strength and stiffness Design flexibility - ability to tailor properties Fatigue resistance Corrosion resistance Electrically/thermally conductive/insulating Complex shapes Styling (aesthetics) Parts consolidation Paint elimination Fiber patterned finish In-mold color Lower cost tooling and shorter lead times (low volume and/or complex shapes) "WOW" factor (new materials, new technology)