Each project must have an identified need and a stated project goal, the first steps in any design process. Objectives should be formulated so that you can assess how well a design performs. The constraints that all design solutions must exhibit should be specified, and the criteria by which the merit of competing solutions can be judged need to be established. Several alternative approaches to addressing the goal should be identified and evaluated with respect to the constraints and criteria, and a preferred design identified. All of the above will be required to be presented in the preliminary design presentation.
Students will work in groups of 4. The issue of intellectual property and patentability of designs will also be addressed. While it is not necessary that what you are proposing to design is patentable, it is necessary that each group present a review of US patents that have been issued on similar concepts, in the preliminary design presentation. This is important since unless you understand how the patenting process works, you could well produce a very valuable patentable design and not even be aware of this, or even worse, spend a great deal of time developing a totally awesome new concept only to discover that someone else has already patented it. To this end, we will be giving an introductory lecture on this topic in the first scheduled course period.
The preliminary design presentations (PDPs) are scheduled for Oct. 3rd and Oct. 17th. The format will be that each group presents (in a 12 minute presentation) what has been described in the preceding paragraphs:
- An identified need
- A project goal statement
- Design objectives, key features of a solution
- Design constraints and criteria
- Alternative design concepts for achieving the goal
- Evaluation and comparison of competing design concepts
- Presentation and comments on 3 related US patents
- Gantt chart for estimated project activities
The presentation must be made using Acrobat or PowerPoint, and a CD of this presentation must be handed in by noon on Oct. 3rd for all groups. Each presentation will be followed by a 5 minute question period during which the audience and project coordinators will have an opportunity to ask questions pertaining to the presentation.
The schedule for presentations will be via an on-line sign-up on UW-ACE that should be available in the second week of term. Attendance at the presentations is mandatory; it will provide you with the opportunity to see what your classmates are doing in their projects, ask questions and provide suggestions, and also because you will be evaluating their progress and presentation skills.
The class will be split into two sections, section 1 includes the odd numbered groups, and section2 includes even numbered groups.
The final design presentations (FDPs) are scheduled for November 21th and 28th. The format will be the same as for the PDP presentations (a 12 minute presentation followed by 5 minutes for questions), and a CD of the presentation will be due on Nov. 28th at noon for all groups. In this presentation, you will be required to briefly review the problem and concept designs, and then describe how you developed the preferred design that was identified. This should include fairly detailed design issues and calculations, and possibly proof-of-concept elements. You will also be required to present any aspects of the design that might be patentable and the claims you would make; if you think the design is not patentable, you will be required to present prior art (i.e. existing patents) and describe how these would invalidate a patent application.
While attendance at the scheduled Monday period in weeks 1, 4, 5, 11, and 12 is mandatory, the project coordinators will also have a scheduled 15 minute meeting with each group in weeks 2 & 3 and in weeks 7 to 10. These meetings will follow the same schedule as the PDP and FDP, and are intended to provide groups with an opportunity to discuss ideas or issues related to their design with the instructors. We will not be following the Mechanical Engineering stream format in which each group is required to have a project advisor; however, if specialized advice that is beyond the instructors area of expertise is required, we will be able to facilitate connections to professors in the various departments that will be able to assist.
We will require that each student maintain a design logbook, in which the design process meetings and steps you undertake are documented and dated. This design logbook will be required to be maintained until the end of the ME482 project course in 4B.
The final deliverable for the ME481 project will be a formal report that documents the design process that the group has achieved during the term. The contribution of each group member should be identifiable as an individual section in the report.
Each group will be graded based on the following elements:
- Class evaluation of the PDP (25%)
- Class evaluation of the FDP (25%)
- Instructors evaluation of the project and final report (40%)
- Individual design logbook (10%)
The marking by the instructors will be based on specified design and communication rubrics. These rubrics will be available on UW-ACE.
Schedule of meetings and deliverables
Sept. 12 Project organization. Lecture on Design process, patents and IP
Sept. 16 Project description and groups defined and registered
Sept. 19 Group meetings
Sept. 26 Group meetings
Oct. 3 CD of presentation due at 12:00 (noon)
Oct. 3 Preliminary design presentations I
Oct. 17 Preliminary design presentations II
Oct. 24 Group meetings
Oct. 31 Group meetings
Nov. 7 Group meetings
Nov. 14 Group meetings
Nov. 21 CD of final design presentation due at 12:00 (noon)
Nov. 21 Final design presentations I
Nov. 28 Final design presentations II
Dec. 5 Report and Design logbook due
Summary of presentation requirements
Preliminary design presentation
You will be required to describe what you plan to design and why this is useful. You will need to have conducted a patent search to determine whether the outcome of your project is patentable, and you will need to provide a brief review of prior art in the area. You should define the design goal and objective(s), constraints that the design must meet, and criteria by which alternative designs can be compared. You should present several potential design solutions, their relative merits, and a design matrix to identify the preferred approach. You should also include a project timeline.
Final design presentation
Your presentation should first review the original objective and design alternatives, and then describe in detail the design you have developed. You should present analysis and results, and any intermediate concepts or prototypes you may have developed. You should identify any patentable aspects of your design and patent claims you would make, and if you feel there are no patentable aspects, what other patents and claims you would be infringing if you chose to market your design.
Faculty of Engineering course responsibilities
Courses offered in the Faculty of Engineering place responsibility on the Faculty of Engineering, the instructor and teaching team and all of the students. Many of these responsibilities are described at the first lecture or captured in the policies of the university.
There are two responsibilities that have been specified by the Senate of the University of Waterloo as requiring special mention. One relating to the responsibility of students with respect to plagiarism and academic discipline and one relating to the teaching team with respect to students with disabilities. These two responsibilities have been expressed in specific wording by the Senate and are listed below.
All courses offered by the Faculty of Engineering subscribe to these specifications except as may be noted on the syllabus for each course.