A
Freshman Engineering Design Project
Developed by P.K. Imbrie, Purdue University
(Developed while at Texas A&M University)
Report Requirements
Engineering Content Requests
From an
engineering design standpoint, the report of the project
should address the following areas:
problem
identification (an introduction to the problem),
preliminary ideas or concepts (copies of rough sketches
should be included)
refinement of a design (scaled sketches of the final
design are requested in the project statement), and
analysis
and implementation (results of the demonstration of
prototypes).
Experimentally obtain distance versus time data (as
described below) and provide a plot of this information.
From the
experimental data, estimate and plot the vehicle’s
velocity versus time.
From the
experimental data, estimate and plot the vehicle’s
acceleration versus time.
Using
the above graphs, determine an appropriate velocity
function and analytically estimate the distance the
vehicle traveled and compare this to the measured data.
“Estimate”
the amount of energy stored in your engine just prior to
the release of the vehicle. Compare this to your estimate
of how much energy was actually delivered to the vehicle.
Include a
final description of your design that includes
a single
prototype
the
results of the project
the
functionality of the design
At this
point, the engineering professors are not interested in
detailed design drawings, just good sketches of the final
design and a report that documents the complete design
process. Analysis is limited to what is asked for in the
project statement.
English
Requirements
In
contrast to the technical information contained within the
report, we will look at the quality of your organization,
development and writing. From an English standpoint, the
report should adhere to the following qualifications:
Overall
is
well-organized into logical, separate report sections.
uses a
clear system of highlighted headings to identify report
sections.
demonstrates an understanding of the Killingsworth,
Chapter 9 reading (provided in class)
Content
begins
with a clear introductory section·
thoroughly reviews the methods by which the product (the
car) was developed.
documents the results of the test trials.
discusses (analyzes) the product’s (car’s) performance,
indicating strengths and weaknesses and comparing expected
results to actual results.
includes
any conclusions or implications drawn from the work.
Writing
Style
uses
clear sentences with active wording, only using the
objective style when appropriate.
uses
well-structured paragraphs.
is
consistent in style (doesn’t sound like it was written by
four different authors).
uses
general audience terms where possible and appropriate (no
unnecessarily complex writing).
avoids
errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Graphics
are
titled and labeled.
are
referenced in the text and explained as needed.
A clear
understanding of this project-report process will benefit
you in the future. This presentation is similar to future
projects but contains less detail. Such work is commonplace
in the professional world.
