Individual Profiles

Alexandra Berkova

Alexandra Berkova was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In 2001, her family immigrated to Miami, FL. She is a senior at Florida International University studying Mechanical Engineering. Currently, she conducts lithium-ion/sodium-ion battery research at the FIU Battery Research Laboratory. She aspires to be an entrepreneur and train as a pilot. On her time off, she enjoys travel and outdoor activities.

Beatriz Brandt

Beatriz Brandt was born in Brazil, but raised between Brazil and Venezuela. She moved to Miami, FL in 2014. She studies Interdisciplinary Engineering with a secondary field in Industrial Engineering at Florida International University and works in hospitality.

Gabriella Grandville

Gabriella Grandville was born was born in New York before moving to Florida in 2006. She is a senior at Florida International University studying Interdisciplinary Engineering with a secondary field in Biomedical Engineering.

Lorena Polo

Lorena Polo was born in Venezuela and raised mostly in the United States. She moved to Miami, FL in 2004 with her family. Currently studies Mechanical Engineering at Florida International University as a full time student and enjoys traveling and getting to know new cultures.

Roles

Roles were not explicitly given to the group. During project 1, strengths, weaknesses, and preferences were taken into account. These were the roles we took on. We will continue taking on the same roles into project 2 and re-evaluate as the project progresses.

Alexandra

Website/Presentation Designer - Designed website, added content to website, wrote main ideas and analysis, converted content from website into PowerPoint presentation.
Editor/"Finisher" - Refined ideas for project 1, double checked rubric for project completion, made final touches.

Beatriz

Communication Liaison - Point of contact for facilities, scheduled interviews, present in most interviews.
General helper/ formatter - Refined/edited layout of the website, added images, created format for people profiles.

Gabriella

Creative brainstormer, "Starter" - Brainstorming big ideas, leading group to develop relevant content, great abstract thinker.
Visual Designer - Took rough framework/systems drafts in class and aesthetically designed in Miro.

Lorena

In-class transcriber - Keeps track of group project ideas or assigned charts and diagrams in class.
Online Communication Liaison - Contact for online interviews.

Goals

Project 1

Alexandra

Beatriz

Gabriella

Lorena

Individual Goals:

My goal for this class is to get an A. I want to understand and improve my communication style within teams and stakeholders. Also, I want to gain perspective and inspire philosophical thinking outside of traditional technical engineering processes.

Team Plan:

The team will follow procedures set in the "Team Contract" and give our best effort on all assignments. In team meetings, I will try to lead open discussions about our findings to improve my own communication.

Assessment Plan:

Getting an A! Also, I will assess our goals using an exit survey to rate the team's and my own experience working on the project and satisfaction.

Individual Goals:

My goal for this class is to learn as much as possible and get an A! I would also like to improve my communication skills and learn more in depth about holistic approaches in problem solving.

Team Plan:

The team has agreed to the terms of the contract and to inform the others shall we have any difficulties. We also agreed to make our best effort in terms of work and communication. Simultaneously, I will personally do some outside reading to improve my knowledge, writing skills and vocabulary.

Assessment Plan:

I plan to assess our goals by having a team discussion at the end of this project, and doing a self assessment, reflecting on my own and group's performance in order to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Individual Goals:

My goal for this class is to pass with either an A or an B. I'd also like to develop my communication and teamwork skills throughout the semester.

Team Plan:

As a team, we will work together under the "team contract" and work together to the best of our abilities. Additionally, "soft" goals will be made within the group before hard deadlines to ensure success.

Assessment Plan:

Outside of grades given within the class, I will judge the success of our project by our prospective impact on the stakeholder as well as team satisfaction with the project.

Individual Goals:

One of my goals for this class is to get an A! I would also like to share our findings with others to give a realistic perspective of all the behind the scenes that Animal Shelter workers experience.

Team Plan:

As a team, we plan to work together, communicate efficiently, and follow our team contract.

Assessment Plan:

At the end of our research we should be able to combine all of our findings and be able to collectively present and share our experiences working towards our individual goals and team goals.

Project 2

Alexandra

Beatriz

Gabriella

Lorena

Individual Goals:

My goals for this class remain the same. In project 1, I was able to research my people group, connect with them, and ultimately gain more knowledge about their experiences I didn't know about previously. For project 2, I want to dive deeper into the abstract concepts taught in class. For example, understanding what systems are and their roles in societies.

Team Plan:

The team did excellent in project 1! We didn't need to refer to the contract and no conflicts arose. Everyone contributed pretty fairly. I hope we keep up the great work.

Assessment Plan:

We got our A for project 1! We conduct regular check-ins to make sure we are on track and have a healthy team.

Individual Goals:

My goal for this class hasn't changed, as I still want to learn as much as possible and get an A! For the second project, I would like to take on more tasks that I don't feel as confident on. Also, to learn more in depth about our people group and make sense of all the systems involved.

Team Plan:

Since writing is the skill I'm the least confident on, I'll be working closely with Alexandra that has the best writing skills in the group. I also plan on doing extra research and readings in order to better understand our people group.

Assessment Plan:

The main way of assessing my experience will be my grade and Dr. Schill's feedback. Also, our group do regular check-ins and discussions, which ensures the work on track and to the best of our abilities.

Individual Goals:

My goal for this project is to better understand the systems of our people group, get As on assignments, and keep a low stress education experience.

Team Plan:

My role for project 2 will be to focus on the visual diagrams for the systems. Since this is something I am comfortable with, it should help keep my stress low.

Assessment Plan:

Outside of the grades we will receive for our efforts, we will be judging success based on one per project check-ins. We will look back on the last project to see what worked and what didn't and change accordingly.

Individual Goals:

I would like to be more comfortable with the flow charts and graphs that we're introduced with in class relating to our people group.

Team Plan:

As a team, we would all like to maintain our As. I would our group to implement our obtained knowledge from project 1 and merge it with new data from project 2 to have informative and accurate flow charts and other visual representations.

Assessment Plan:

As grades are our main source of assessment as well as the feedback we receive from Dr. Schill, we will be using that and continue to use class time efficiently as it has made a positive impact on our team and we aim to continue to do our best together.

Team Contract

Team Goals: Our goal is to do our best and get an A. We want to truly understand our stakeholders (Animal Shelters) and raise awareness of their needs to ourselves and the whole class. The main goal hasn't changed for the second part of the project.

Roles and Responsibilities: Responsibilities will be assigned as the need arises. There is no defined leader. We all have an equal share in this project. For part one, we equally divided the work (attempt 2x interview / person) and each person was responsible for drafting their interviewee's personal profile. For part two, we have assigned specific roles as we see fit for each member of the group on the previous section of this page.

Meeting Etiquette: All communication should be done through group chat or scheduled meetings. The team will meet schedule meetings as needed. Meetings are for discussion of progress and conflicts. If someone misses a meeting, a synopsis will be written through group chat. A meeting can be rescheduled if majority agrees. Meetings can only be rescheduled once per week. If you are silent for more than a week, you will lose credit for the assignment and your responsibility will be reassigned.

Decision-making plan: Each team member will be assigned a responsibility. As lead of their responsibility, they will make decisions according to their best judgement or ask the team for advice. If there is conflict, refer to conflict section.

Completion of Work: Each team member will be assigned a responsibility. They are responsible for redistributing work or asking for help. Work is expected to be completed by each individual to at least a C grade level quality. If not, the matter will be brought up to the professor and corresponding team member will not receive credit for the whole assignment. Then, the team will redistribute that work. Soft deadlines will be set prior to hard deadlines to provide a buffer. Any team member can edit or change other's work unless stated otherwise. Then, you must ask that person's permission to edit. We understand that things happen, but we will give our best effort on all assignments.

Giving and receiving feedback: Feedback for assignments will be given at the meeting before soft deadlines which will act as review time. Any other feedback can be given through group chat with respect. If you want active discussion, wait for the group meeting. Please refer to conflict section, if you want professor mediation. Nothing is personal unless stated otherwise.

Conflict: If the team is in conflict over a decision, action, inaction, or personal matters, it should be brought up to the team immediately in chat or in person at meetings. The group chat is not expected to reply automatically but should reply within 2 business days. No conflict should be discussed one-on-one unless it is very personal and appropriate to discuss one-on-one. Votes may be called upon to settle decisions. If a vote is called upon, the majority will win. If the conflict can not be settled through conversation, there is no vote called upon, or there is a draw, the conflict will be settled through mediation by the professor. A teammate can come to the professor at any time with confidence with or without the team. If nothing is brought up to the group, forever hold your peace. Be professional.

We, as team members, affirm that we will comply with each component of this contract and follow the procedures and practices outlined, in order to successfully complete our project in the most efficient and thorough way possible.

Gabriella Grandville Lorena Polo

Alexandra Berkova Beatriz Brandt

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