Weekly Reports:
[2021-02-01]
Week One: Completed the first exercise by creating this website for the weekly reports, and adding my GitHub repository link. I have a Raspberry Pi with Raspbian set up.
[2021-02-08]
Week Two: Lab 1 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 1, concerned with aspects of engineering careers, (10 Attributes of Engineers, Useful and meaningful engineering careers, engineering design phases) and the significance of STEAM.
[2021-02-15]
Week Three: Labor Day.
[2021-02-22]
Week Four: Lab 2 Assigned; demonstrated in class by P.Lu. Discussed Lesson 2, concerning need assessment. {identify a need, and form correct problem statement} Stressed the importance of carbon neutrality.
[2021-03-01]
Week Five: Lab 3 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 3 concerning the lab procedure and problem statement. This includes things like the Why-Why diagram, Source/Cause approach, and the types of problems that can occur.
Completed Lab 1. Partial Lab 2.
[2021-03-08]
Week Six: Lab 4 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 4 concerning the search for a solution. This includes designing search strategies, subdividing the problem into specific goals, and working within constraints. Constraints included physical, environmental, ergonomic, and need to be identified in each subdivision of goals.
Contribution: [https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/six-constraints-enhanced-model-project-control-7294]
Six constraints of a project: cost, risk, benefit, quality, scope, time.
[2021-03-15]
Week Seven: Lab 5 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 5 concerning protecting technical knowledge. Trade secrets, trademarks, patents, and copyrights and their differences.
Partially completed Lab 3.
Contribution: [https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/difference-copyright-patent-trademark/]
Easy and digestible way to reference the differences between copyright, patent, and trademark.
[2021-03-22]
Week Eight: Lab 6 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 6 concerning abstraction and modeling. Model types include iconic, analogical, and symbolic. Justified reasoning for the selected model needs to be presented prior to developing the model.
Completed Lab 4.
Contribution: [https://blog.leonardo.com.au/the-ultimate-guide-to-process-modelling]
An in-depth explanation of process modeling and its implementation.
[2021-03-29]
Week Nine: Lab 7 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 7 concerning synthesis. Requires creative thinking to combine ideas and things into new, meaningful, practical forms. Barriers to synthesis; knowledge, perceptual, emotional, cultural, expressive. Need to take advantage of happy accidents into design solutions.
Contribution: [http://www.helpingyouengineeryourfuture.com/20-methods.htm]
Methods to stimulate creative thinking from the perspective of engineers.
Not exactly related but interesting:
Contribution: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256103966_An_analysis_of_design_process_models_across_disciplines]
Paper comparing the design methods and process models of nine different disciplines. This is done with evaluation over time.
[2021-04-05]
Week Ten: Lab 8 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 8 concerning ethics and product liability. Reviewed the different beliefs and practices of codes of ethics through time, and emphasized the IEEE code of ethics. This pertains to accepting the responsibilities in the decision-making of health, safety, welfare of the public. Common ethical violations include failure to protect the public, failing to include all information, or issuing statements unethically or rooted in unfounded arguments.
Completed Lab 6.
Contribution: [https://online-engineering.case.edu/blog/disastrous-engineering-failures-due-to-ethics]
Real-life examples of when ethical concerns were ignored, or not taken into consideration. Putting real examples helps emphasize the importance of ethics, especially in engineering.
[2021-04-12]
Week Eleven: Lab 9 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 9 concerning failure and hazard analysis. There are three levels of failure, {3. Errors in perspective/attitude; 2. Errors in process; 1. Physical flaws} used to describe failure. Methods for problem-solving include root cause analysis, fault tree analysis, and failure mode and effects analysis. There are 5 steps to dealing with hazards, referred to as H. {1. Review existing standards; 2. Identify known H.; 3. Identify unknown H.; 4. Determine characteristics of H.; 5. Eliminate or minimize H} Takeaway; it is best to eliminate all hazards, otherwise, reduce exposure to the users.
US department of labor recommended practices for safety and health. Actions and effects in a real-world setting help emphasize the importance of safety constraints.
Contribution: [http://www.healthsafety.com/articles/hazard-prevention-and-control-work-environment]
Hierarchy of controls for a high degree of risk reduction.
[2021-04-19]
Week Twelve: Lab 10 Assigned. Discussed Lesson 10 concerning design analysis. The analysis includes evaluation of other designs, rank-ordering design goals, assigning prioritization, and rating other designs, in relation to yours. Evaluating designs using methods such as decision matrices and Krepner-Tregoe (KT) decision and evaluation matrices.
Completed Lab 7.
[2021-04-26]
Week Thirteen: Discussed Lesson 11 concerning design implementation. Determine the process, materials, and equipment used in fabrication, assembly, and manufacturing operations. Design for X (DFX) are guidelines for development of satisfactory performance of all design functions. Takeaway; poor implementation of a design concept can lead to failure or tragedy.
Completed Lab 8.