A Case Study of the Effects of Design Project Length on Team Collaboration and Leadership in Senior Mechanical Engineering Projects

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Righter ◽  
Andy Blanton ◽  
Hallie Stidham ◽  
Doug Chickarello ◽  
Joshua D. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Team Collaboration ◽  
Project Completion ◽  
Communication Structures ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Engineering Projects

This paper describes exploratory research regarding leadership and communication within undergraduate engineering design teams. The case study was performed on student design projects of one and two semester duration to begin to assess the impact of project length on leadership and communication within the design teams. Data was collected using a survey that was given to the participants in three capstone design projects in Clemson University’s senior design course. The survey was administered within one month of course and project completion. While there were differences in the communication and leadership patterns between the teams, there were other possible influences beyond the project length such as team size and organization, organizational and geographic distribution, and the nature of the product. As a result, further research is proposed to study leadership and communication structures within undergraduate teams and multi-team systems (MTS).

A Web-Based Online Collaboration Tool for Formulating Senior Design Projects

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sainath Varikuti ◽  
Jitesh H. Panchal ◽  
John M. Starkey
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Online Collaboration ◽  
Team Cohesiveness ◽  
Faculty Mentor ◽  
Design Project ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Project Outcome ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
The Impact

A well formed senior design project is known to have significant benefits in terms of project outcome, student motivation, team cohesiveness, engagement, and student learning. Defining a good problem statement, forming a team of compatible and appropriately skilled students, and selecting an appropriate faculty mentor are critical aspects of project formation. Therefore, students in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University are encouraged to suggest project ideas, form teams, and have them approved by the course coordinator before the semester starts. While there is significant literature on senior design projects, most of the existing work is focused on activities after the problem is defined and the teams are formed. There is a lack of mechanisms and tools to guide the project formation phase in senior design projects, which makes it challenging for students and faculty to collaboratively develop and refine project ideas and to establish appropriate teams. To address this challenge, we have implemented an online collaboration tool to share, discuss and obtain feedback on project ideas, and to facilitate collaboration among students and faculty prior to the start of the semester. Through an online survey and questionnaire to students, we are exploring the impact of the collaboration tool on the senior design project formation process. In this paper we present the design of the tool and the results from our ongoing study in the senior design class at Purdue Mechanical Engineering.

scholarly journals A Fuzzy Method for Propagating Functional Architecture Constraints to Physical Architecture

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bonjour ◽  
Samuel Deniaud ◽  
Maryvonne Dulmet ◽  
Ghassen Harmel
Keyword(s):  
New Product Development ◽  
Domain Architecture ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Architecture ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Early Design Stages ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Engineering Projects

Modular product design has received great attention for about 10 years, but few works have proposed tools to either jointly design the functional and physical architectures or propagate the impact of evolutions from one domain to another. In this paper, we present a new method supporting the product architecture design. In new product development situations or in re-engineering projects, system architects could use this method in the early design stages to predetermine cohesive modules and integrative elements and to simulate a domain architecture by propagating architecture choices from another domain. To illustrate our approach, we present an industrial case study concerning the design of a new automobile powertrain.

scholarly journals Quality Assurance of Capstone Senior Design Projects: A Case Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hussain ◽  
Nizar Tayem ◽  
Chedly Yahya ◽  
Sadiq Alhuwaidi ◽  
Jamal Nayfeh
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Design Projects

Can Process Metrics Predict Product Success?: A Pilot Study of Student Design Teams

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bracken ◽  
Francis Xavier Glavin ◽  
Daniel Henderson ◽  
Kathryn Jablokow ◽  
Neeraj Sonalkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Teams ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Product Success ◽  
Team Interactions ◽  
Successful Team ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Video And Audio ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Engineering Projects

Abstract Engineering projects typically revolve around producing a deliverable. That deliverable goes to a customer, who either deems it acceptable or in need of further work. The engineering analysis and components of whatever system is to be produced are the subject of much scrutiny. However, the human process composed of team interactions that lead up to creating that final product is frequently treated as a “black box” that simply produces an output. In order to identify what factors in that process are key to a successful product, this work seeks to identify what successful engineering design teams do differently than less successful teams. As part of our larger research project, metrics for measuring team performance during the process of design have also been created. In this paper, we use three of those metrics in a case study of 5 senior-level student design teams. These data are employed in conjunction with feedback from the instructor, acting as their customer, to identify which behaviors had strong links with more successful team results. We also investigate whether any of the behaviors exhibited by the teams correspond to worse results, in order to identify behaviors with the potential to be used to predict poorer performance in advance. This analysis is completed using data collected via a mid-term survey and an end-of-project survey (both completed by the team members), in addition to video and audio meeting data, and data collected from both midterm and final presentations. We present these results as an avenue to move us towards enabling engineers to choose to engage knowingly in behaviors that correlate with better project results.

Senior Design Projects to Aid the Disabled at the University of Toledo: Community Outreach and Impact

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Samir Hefzy ◽  
Gregory Nemunaitis ◽  
Nagi Naganathan ◽  
Christine Smallman
Keyword(s):  
Community Involvement ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Physically Disabled ◽  
The Past ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Senior Students

Abstract This paper describes the community involvement and the impact that the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (MIME) at the University of Toledo (UT) has accomplished during the past six years with its senior students in developing custom devices for physically disabled individuals within the Toledo community. These projects assist disabled individuals to better enjoy life and realize their maximum potential. These projects significantly enhance the education of student engineers through the experience of designing and building devices to meet a real need with feedback on how well the device satisfies that need.

The Fit Between Spatial Configuration and Idealized Flows: Mapping Flows in Surgical Facilities as Part of Case Study Visits

2020 ◽  
pp. 193758672092835
Author(s):  
Herminia Machry ◽  
Anjali Joseph ◽  
Deborah Wingler
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Flow Mapping ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Mapping Tool ◽  
Mapping Approach ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: This study proposes a flow mapping approach for surgical facilities that can be implemented by design teams as a component of case study tours. Background: The provision of healthcare services involves simultaneous and closely coupled flows of people, objects, and information, and the efficiency of these flows is influenced by the spatial configuration of the buildings where these services are housed. Many architecture firms conduct case study tours to inform their design process. However, these tours often lack a structured way of documenting different flows and interpreting observations. A structured approach is needed during the design process to understand the impact of spatial configuration on healthcare flows. Method: Site tours were conducted at four surgery centers to develop and test an evidence-based flow mapping approach. Idealized flows within surgical facilities were first identified from the literature, followed by the development of a data collection tool aimed at documenting these flows in each case study through a pre-assessment questionnaire, a physical assessment, and interviews with staff. Results: The flow mapping tool kit was effective in allowing the design team to systematically understand the physical configuration of surgical flows across case studies. The tool also allowed the team to identify spatial configuration characteristics acting as barriers and facilitators to idealized flows. Conclusions: The flow mapping approach was able to provide structure for conducting these short tours more effectively via observations and staff inquiry, enabling design teams to draw more meaningful conclusions from case study tours and conduct comparisons between healthcare facilities visited.

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