GE 121 – Engineering Design Engineering Design GE121 Finding Answers to the Problem Part VI Lecture 13A

GE 121 – Engineering Design Quiz 4 / Project Milestones  Expect Quiz 4 at any time  Up to, but NOT including Lecture 7  Project Milestone  By the end of this week you should have generated 4 alternatives that meet all constraints (3 or 4 if there are only 3 members in your group)

GE 121 – Engineering Design Prototypes, Models & Proofs of Concept  Important in evaluating / extending designs  Some important terms include:  Prototypes Original models on which something is patterned Usually full scale versions of a new design Usually tested in the environment in which they must perform (example – airplane)  Models Miniature representations of something (including possibly a computer model) They represent the end design, but may not scale exactly to it

GE 121 – Engineering Design Prototypes, Models & Proofs of Concept (continued)  Proof of Concept Use of a Prototype, Model or other representation to demonstrate that a design concept can be made to work in the intended fashion Proof of Concept often comes in seemingly modest terms, and need not capture the full set of demands of a working version of the design

GE 121 – Engineering Design Models & Prototypes are NOT the Same Thing  A Prototype is the first of a kind  Tested in Real environment  Example - Real plane, flown in airspace  A Model is a representation of the thing  Tested in Controlled environment  Example - Model flown in wind tunnel

GE 121 – Engineering Design When Do We Build a Prototype?  Cost and scale are among the key factors in deciding between models and prototypes  Airplanes versus Tall buildings  Airplanes – Commonly prototyped Chance of catastrophic failure of a purely paper design is still quite high Many copies of it will be made  Tall Buildings – Rarely if ever prototyped Still potential for failure, but very rare Typically only one copy will be built  If Prototype is cheap & easy, good idea to build

GE 121 – Engineering Design Testing Prototypes, Models & Concepts  Testing of designed systems usually involves Proof of Concept testing  Proof of Concept example  Alexander Graham Bell – summons assistant in Lab to prove concept of telephone  Proof of Concept  Requires Skill and Judgment in determining what to test and how to test it  In many cases, a simple relatively inexpensive test may be used to prove the initial concept  In others a complex mockup is required

GE 121 – Engineering Design Managing Generation/Selection of Design Alternatives  Useful to remember that the generation and evaluation of alternatives includes many tasks and demands  Also useful for the team to review some of its earlier work during these activities, including those shown in the following sections

GE 121 – Engineering Design Task Management  Team should review the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and the Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC), to determine if any new tasks have emerged  Of particular interest are tasks related to Testing and Proof of Concept work

GE 121 – Engineering Design Scheduling  Team should update schedule during this phase  Probably several times  As team learns that some activities require more or less time than originally expected

GE 121 – Engineering Design Budgeting  Team should revisit budget  Insure that necessary resources are available to complete testing and evaluation of alternatives

GE 121 – Engineering Design Monitoring Progress  Should be done at each meeting!  How team is performing relative to the plan  What adjustments are required