What is our Engineering Design Project?
For my first project in this class the assignment was very open ended, to come up with a solution to a modern world problem. I joined the class during the final legs of the project so there wasn't any decisions or planing for me to take part in. What the group had decided was problem is California's flawed public transport system, and they focused more on a local level such as the bay area. They researched public transport in Europe, Asia, and some U.S. cities to see what worked. They also researched our own current system to see what wasn't working. They decided that the best thing to do is to expand the currently existing BART system which only services San Francisco and the east bay. They planned to expand it to cover the whole bay and connect all of the bay area together with notable stations near job locations and housing areas. This would be achieved by adding more rail and merging with Cal Train which already covers a lot of area. Below is our presentation and an explanation of the engineering design cycle along with my personal reflection.
For my first project in this class the assignment was very open ended, to come up with a solution to a modern world problem. I joined the class during the final legs of the project so there wasn't any decisions or planing for me to take part in. What the group had decided was problem is California's flawed public transport system, and they focused more on a local level such as the bay area. They researched public transport in Europe, Asia, and some U.S. cities to see what worked. They also researched our own current system to see what wasn't working. They decided that the best thing to do is to expand the currently existing BART system which only services San Francisco and the east bay. They planned to expand it to cover the whole bay and connect all of the bay area together with notable stations near job locations and housing areas. This would be achieved by adding more rail and merging with Cal Train which already covers a lot of area. Below is our presentation and an explanation of the engineering design cycle along with my personal reflection.
Our Presentation:
The Engineering Design Cycle
The Engineering Design Cycle is a way to plan out a scientific pathway to success. My group used this to work out the problem, and when I arrived it was explained to me how it works. Here is the cycle and how we used it.
1. Identify Need: The first step is to identify a problem that needs solving. My group did this by identify what the problem they wanted to solve was and form groups around similar interests.
2. Research Problem: This step requires you to gather data and information on your topic. As stated prior my group researched by see what worked in Europe and Asia and what didn't work in California. Sites my group used: http://www.energy.ca.gov/almanac/transportation_data/transit.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_California
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/18/us/california-high-speed-rail/index.html
3. Develop Possible Solutions: This step is to come up with possible ideas and solutions. My group brainstormed ideas to solve the problems, some serious and some lighthearted.
4. Select The Most Promising Solution: Once you have the solutions you need to narrow down and choose the best possible option. They decided the best idea was to create a connected train system.
5. Construct A Prototype: You need to now construct a prototype to make sure that your idea is feasible. My group planned out a crude map of the rails and where to best place stations near employers and homes.
6. Test And Evaluate Prototype: Now you must test your prototype and work out the flaws. (I Arrive) We fleshed out the plan and improved the crude map. We realized we could save time and money by merging with Cal Train.
7. Communicative Design: Now you need to find a way to communicate your design to the masses. We decided the best way to communicate our idea was with a slideshow and color coded maps.
8. Redesign: Now you should go go back and remake and redesign anything that doesn't fit.We went back and added and removed some stations. We also redid our prices due to some very expensive control examples.
9. Repeat: Any point in this project you could do again to improve or redo to make it better. We redid this cycle until we reached the final product you see as our presentation above.
The Engineering Design Cycle is a way to plan out a scientific pathway to success. My group used this to work out the problem, and when I arrived it was explained to me how it works. Here is the cycle and how we used it.
1. Identify Need: The first step is to identify a problem that needs solving. My group did this by identify what the problem they wanted to solve was and form groups around similar interests.
2. Research Problem: This step requires you to gather data and information on your topic. As stated prior my group researched by see what worked in Europe and Asia and what didn't work in California. Sites my group used: http://www.energy.ca.gov/almanac/transportation_data/transit.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_California
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/18/us/california-high-speed-rail/index.html
3. Develop Possible Solutions: This step is to come up with possible ideas and solutions. My group brainstormed ideas to solve the problems, some serious and some lighthearted.
4. Select The Most Promising Solution: Once you have the solutions you need to narrow down and choose the best possible option. They decided the best idea was to create a connected train system.
5. Construct A Prototype: You need to now construct a prototype to make sure that your idea is feasible. My group planned out a crude map of the rails and where to best place stations near employers and homes.
6. Test And Evaluate Prototype: Now you must test your prototype and work out the flaws. (I Arrive) We fleshed out the plan and improved the crude map. We realized we could save time and money by merging with Cal Train.
7. Communicative Design: Now you need to find a way to communicate your design to the masses. We decided the best way to communicate our idea was with a slideshow and color coded maps.
8. Redesign: Now you should go go back and remake and redesign anything that doesn't fit.We went back and added and removed some stations. We also redid our prices due to some very expensive control examples.
9. Repeat: Any point in this project you could do again to improve or redo to make it better. We redid this cycle until we reached the final product you see as our presentation above.
Reflection:
For being my first project in this class it went fairly well. I felt like I didn't do much work but that is too be expected considering I joined during the last week of the project. I also feel like I was distracted by trying to catch up to everyone else. One good thing I felt I did was trying my best to help the group although I was still adjusting. Another positive was I felt that I adjusted well to the new classroom on such a short notice. I feel like this was a good start for this class and I cant wait to improve and do more in the future.
For being my first project in this class it went fairly well. I felt like I didn't do much work but that is too be expected considering I joined during the last week of the project. I also feel like I was distracted by trying to catch up to everyone else. One good thing I felt I did was trying my best to help the group although I was still adjusting. Another positive was I felt that I adjusted well to the new classroom on such a short notice. I feel like this was a good start for this class and I cant wait to improve and do more in the future.