Juan Martinez-June/12/2018 Day 2-PLTW Notebook

Today in Engineering class we learned about the design process used in IED.  The process is first define the problem.  See what problems you have in prototypes or other problems we have in life.  We then have to research some ideas and then we brain storm we have to brain storm on prototypes that would be the best solution.  Then we get a solution that's valid with our brain storming ideas.  When we have that prototype we construct a prototype to see if it works.  Then we make sure it solved our problems we had in the beginning.  If it passes all of the criteria we then present the prototype.  We also learned about how engineers have helped doctors and they've even helped with agriculture as well.  At the end of the day we created a presentation describing a picture of an item we didn't know about and brainstorming in order to create a power point on this idea.

1.      What was the most impressive part of the team’s effort?

 The most impressive part of the team's part was how their was so much chaos and still they were able to come up with a new idea for the shopping cart.

2.      What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?

Some advantages are coming up with irrational ideas which then allows the team to build up on that idea and making it practical and useful.

 3.      There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done?

 They did this so they can all have their own ideas and then put them together to make a prototype allowing everyone's idea to be used in a prototype.

4.      At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement?

No I believe everything around us has been designed.  The one thing that isn't designed is nature so their are no contradicts to his statement.

The Deep Dive

1.      “From the buildings in which we live and work, to the cars we drive, or the knives and forks with which we eat, everything we use was designed to create some sort of marriage between Form and Function.

2.      The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But they do claim to be experts on innovation, which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.

3.      After the team of designers is brought together, introduced to the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?

IDEO immediately engages into safety for children.

4.      Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.

a.      First they researched how many children get hospitalized from trying to ride on a shopping cart

b.      They also tried to innovate on carts trying not to be stolen by others.

5.      List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:

a.      One conversation at a time

b.      Stay focused

c.      Encourage wild ideas

d.      Defer judgment

e.      Build on the ideas of others

6.      Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?

There should be these ideas so you can build up on those ideas making them innovative.

7.      After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by voting for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also buildable in a short period of time. Which phase of the design process includes brainstorming and narrowing ideas?

8.      IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a team will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.

9.      Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. For which phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible?

They were responsible for shopping, safety, check out, and finding what your looking for.

10. The leaders at IDEO believe that chaotic behavior and a fun environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.

11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first and asking for forgiveness later.

12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase(s) of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under?  The Prototype phase would be a phase that people would critique as well as evaluating the solution those would maybe be the two phases with most critique.

13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to fail often in order to succeed sooner.

14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype? 60 percent of the week’s time took to build this prototype.

15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design?

The boss tells the teams to test out the new innovation.

16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?  Nature was the only thing not put in the design process.

Discover Engineering

1.      What is engineering? Based on your current perception, in a few sentences define the term “engineering”.

Engineering is the act of creating or innovating chemical, agricultural, or a wide array of certain things as well as technology.

2.      Describe the four major disciplines of engineering and identify problems or projects that an engineer in each discipline might encounter.

·         Chemical engineering

  In chemical engineers in chemical engineering may innovate fuel, plastic, and other types of different chemical based materials.  Some problems they might encounter is harmful fuel for the atmosphere or certain plasma not producing enough energy.

·         Civil engineering

In civil engineers may create bridges, dams, buildings, highways etc…  Problems I believe majors encounter may be buildings and other types of buildings or space satellites not being stable enough to be used in high winds or bad weather.

·         Electrical engineering

Electrical engineers create electrical systems, electrical plants, and motors. Some problems maybe some of these certain items not conducting enough energy for the electrical plants of buildings.

•    Mechanical engineering

These engineers apply mechanics and energy to the design of machines.  They also have a vibration analysis, as well as lubrication

3.      Choose a discipline of engineering (other than chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical) that is of interest to you. Describe this engineering field and explain how it is an extension of, specialization within, or combination of one or more of the four major engineering disciplines. (Optional – create a PowerPoint slide to describe your chosen engineering discipline.)

Aerospace engineering is also one type of engineering that interests me.  It specializes in propulsion and the navigation of certain materials.  It’s a mixture of I think mechanical and electrical engineering.

4.      Describe your selected achievement in a few sentences.

I can see that one man only flying 120 feet has now impacted the world to create air plane rides that last now over 15 hours.

5.      Which major discipline of engineering do you think was most involved in the development of this achievement? Justify your answer.

I believe mechanical engineering was used the most for airplanes in order to use the wind to fly.

6.      If you were an engineer within the discipline that you chose in number 3, which engineering grand challenge would you like to work on?

I would like to enhance virtual reality.  I would like to work on this so people are able to go to a reality when we know we’re unable to visit one place or to do some thing we would never dream of doing.  That is what I would enhance.

7.      Describe your selected grand challenge.

Virtual reality is an illusory environment allowing you to do such things as watch a football game or even star in the football game that is virtual reality.

8.      Why is a solution to this challenge important to the world?

It’s important because if the economy id disastrous and you are unable to do your favorite things such as travel you can use V.R to travel to those certain places.  This can maybe even be used medically maybe by performing surgery these are some solutions that V.R can have.

9.      How could you, as an engineer in your chosen discipline, contribute to a solution to this challenge? I could research maybe some ideas to innovate V.R like most people are doing right now.

Conclusion

1.      What is it about “engineering” that is common to all disciplines of engineering?  That is, what makes an “engineer” an “engineer” regardless of the work one does?

Innovation that is what is common between all engineers they are all innovators.  All engineers innovate from planes to agriculture to even medicine.

2.      Why do you think engineering has been called the stealth profession? (Hint: there are many internet resources that address this question.)

It’s called the stealth profession because most people don’t understand what engineers do.

3.      How is an engineer different from a scientist?

Scientists study the physical world while engineers innovate design process, structures, and equipment.

4.      What interpersonal characteristics do you think are important to the success of an engineer of any discipline?

I know one characteristic is to have fun and have wild ideas.  Like IDEO they have some outrageous ideas then they build on them allowing them to innovate and make something better.

·         What is it? 

·         What problem does it solve?

·         What criteria were used to guide the design?

·         What are the most important features of the design? What features allow it to perform its intended purpose?

·         How does your product affect society and the environment?

Well what is this you may be asking.  Well it is a holder it holds heavy objects like logs or pieces of metal in place in certain work shops.  It solves having to hold heavy objects like how I said early logs or pieces of metal. Our criteria was it cannot break it won't rust and if it doesn't hold your heavy object in place your money back guaranteed for this special device.  The most important features are the stands on the sides and the lid on top.  That lid allows for the certain item to be held in place.  It affects society by having a safer environment in certain workshops.