CAPSTONE PRESENTATION NIGHT WILL BE 

MAY 21st 2024 From  5-7 pm

The countdown below includes Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays...Time is ticking!

CAPSTONE PROJECT  DESIGN STEP 5 OUTLINE BREAKDOWN AND DUE DATES:

(2 wks) GOAL:  Design Defense for your Original Project 

Check the Final Capstone Project Checklist to plan

BY THE 21st Your Team Must Create the project stations For Presentation Night. 

You Must include:

• Your Physical and Virtual Prototypes 

• Capstone Project Final Report, (DRAFT) (check HERE for details) 

• Digital Technical posters (check HERE for details), 

• Flyers/Business cards,

• Final presentation with voiceover, (DRAFT) (use all you have done so far)

• Physical & Virtual Demonstration (show your project in action, film everything).

• Product Website

Weeks 05/06-05/10 and 05/13-05/17

ONGOING ( NOT due at the end of the two weeks):

• BUILD! BUILD! BUILD! CONTINUE TO WORK ON BUILDING YOUR FINAL PROTOTYPE (Test as you build and modify as necessary,  keep the failed prototypes if possible, and document everything including the setbacks it is part of the process!)

• Work as a team using Onshape.com to create:

  • Detailed 3D “buildable prototypes” of your capstone projects, including all subsystems, fastening solutions, and alternative design possibilities. The models must be realistic and represent real physical objects, obeying the laws of physics.

  • Detailed 2D buildable blueprints. (Check Onshape - Drawings tutorials or use Fusion 360 to make a blueprint ).

  • Share your work with your Team on Onshape.com so I can monitor your progress.

  • I AM ACTIVELY CHECKING YOUR PROGRESS, SO WORK ON IT.

• Work as a team to create/update a professional Product/Team Website.

In planning, you should be thinking of the following: 

• RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Research markets, competitors, and how-to videos for the specific skills you will need to create your prototype and the scientific and mathematical concepts that you want to incorporate into your project.

• Check the STEM Website daily, and review all requirements and readings.

• Make a detailed cost analysis for your prototypes (materials, tools), testing (materials, instruments), and promotional needs.

• Research marketing and promotion opportunities for your product, and think about materials and funds (Crowdfunding, Sponsors, etc...)

• Look ahead to steps 5 through 8 and plan accordingly on the Capstone outline document, revise your Gantt chart accordingly

• Project Presentation Night will be May 21st (from 5 to 7 pm)

• Continue to work on a detailed weekly plan for your team (Start planning ahead for the next weeks). Specify each group member's tasks and responsibilities in the Gantt chart. (Ongoing)

• Include all links to sources that you plan to investigate/research (online tutorials, articles, software, etc) on the Padlet (Ongoing)

0. BUILD! BUILD! BUILD! CONTINUE TO WORK ON BUILDING YOUR FINAL PROTOTYPE (Test as you build and modify as necessary,  keep the failed prototypes if possible, and document everything including the setbacks it is part of the process!) Due 05/21

1. Design Defense Report & Presentation with voice-over Due 05/17 (Draft)

***Carefully read the specifications further down on this page

1. Create Slides with voice over, that include the “Defense” as explained on the page below DO NOT make a poster yet

2. Make sure to include any media (videos, pictures, etc…) to clearly and impactfully showcase your product and its functionalities.

2. ONSHAPE SIMULATION  SIMSCALE  TUTORIALS PART 2 Due 05/10

Watch and complete the following tutorials using Onshape.com/Simscale

 Due Friday 05/05: Simscale is a simulation Software integrated with Onshape:

1. • Complete the “Tutorial: Thermal Analysis of a Differential Casing” step-by-step tutorial" (Read and follow the step-by-step instructions)

   • When done Share your work with your team and  ctronconi@students.nusd.org by clicking on the share icon

3. Website update. Update your personal digital portfolios including all material produced during Capstone  Step 4. (Due 05/10)

Design Defense 

Prepare to defend your design before a “jury” during STEM Project Presentation night. The "jury" will want to know: Did the team adhere to a systematic Engineering design approach? How does the final concept work? What is the level of risk associated with this design? Do the students appear to be teaming effectively with each other? 

Prepare all the needed documentation, prototypes, poster and the right number of salient slides.

Introduction

Engineers must convince customers and investors that a design is worth expenditures of money and the time of skilled people. In a student design project, this process of convincing customers is simulated by a written and oral design defense. The goal of this presentation is to win the confidence of the project sponsors and possible clients, henceforth referred to as the "jury". 

The products for this step will be:

• Oral and Written Defense

  • Slides with voice-over, and technical Poster.

  • Written defense document, including answers to the questions detailed in the "How to Prepare an Oral and Written Defense" section below. Make sure to explain what problem were you trying to solve, and how you solved it using the engineering design process, Explain why they should invest in your product and why is it innovative. Your goal here is to convince the audience that your project was well thought through and researched, it is a great idea, can make a real difference in the world, and it is a good investment.

• Final Written Design Report including (See more on Design Step 8)

  • Initial Brainstorming and Initial Project Proposal and how it evolved over time

  • All preliminary and ongoing research conducted

  • Main tasks and accomplishments of each team member (Gantt Charts)

  • Problem Definition

  • All technical 2D, 3D sketches

  • Lab reports and findings.

  • Design requirements.

  • Alternative concepts not selected

• Prototype(s), Model(s), Evidence of testing

  • Preliminary physical models (models of sub-functions are accepted) 

  • Evidence of Tests/Experiments 

  • Built working prototype(s) that illustrate your project idea.

How to Prepare an Oral and Written Defense

In assessing a team’s chances for future success, the "jury" is searching for answers to the following questions:

• Emphasize why your product/design is worth investing in.

• Why is it effective in meeting the human needs that you have identified

•  Did the team adhere to the Engineering Design Process?

• How does the final concept work?

• What level of risk is associated with this design?

• Do the students appear to be teaming effectively?

Strategies:

Some strategies that should be effective:

First, the organization of the presentation should parallel the steps in the Engineering Design Process, as shown in Table 25.1. This is your way of saying that you followed a systematic approach. 

Second, you should try to get the "jury" to understand how your final concept works as quickly as possible. This frees up more time during questions for alleviating concerns about the design. 

Third, you should anticipate that the "jury" will ask questions about potential sources of risk and prepare evidence in advance to quell those concerns. This evidence should be in the form of high-quality detailed drawings, results of calculations and experiments, and preliminary models (different from prototypes); bring evidence of experiments and tests to show that you actually did it. The strategies that serve to reduce risk, and their counterparts that don’t, are summarized in Table 25.2.

Table 25.1

Table 25.2

Meanwhile, the "jury" is also evaluating your teaming. It will base its impressions on the quality of your design and oral presentation (see Table 25.3 for some tips on delivery and visual aids). There are other telltale signs. For example, did everyone contribute equally to the presentation? Was everyone involved in answering questions? Did team members refer to themselves as “we” or “I” when citing accomplishments?

Table 25.3

When answering questions, be forthright. Failure to do so will lead to an unending chain of questions. If your response is an opinion and not a fact, state so because one erroneous answer can damage your credibility and thus elevate the risk associated with your design.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Prepare the visual aids for the oral design defense. You must use PowerPoint or an equivalent software package like Google Slides. Relevant drawings should be scanned if on paper, including all the digital models. Suggestions to make it interesting:

a. Tell a story. Why is this important? Make your audience EXCITED about what you are doing. 

b. Be passionate.

c. Be professional.

d. Include VISUALS, (pictures, graphs, short clips included)

e. Avoid BORING like the plague. If you have a tough time re-watching the presentation yourself, chances are it is boring and you need to change it.

2. Practice the presentation.

3. Deliver the oral presentation to a 'jury'  You will do this by doing a voiceover for each slide. PowerPoint does a fantastic job of this. You can use the computers in the classroom for this. Upload your presentation to your individual and group's website.

Typical format

• 7 to 10 minutes for the oral presentation.

• All team members participate in the presentation.

Grading Criteria

• What level of risk is associated with the design?

• What was the quality of the drawings and the other visual aids?

• Did you make your audience excited about what you are doing?