APSC 100 Final Exam

Actual costs

Money, effort, and resources spent or consumed in a project.

Appreciation

acknowledge, give credit, give thanks

Audience

Considerations of what the person or group knows, needs to know, and wants to know.

Balancing loop

A feedback loop that opposes the initial change.

Bearable (sustainability)

Societal and environmental

Brainstorming

A concept generation technique that involves quick idea generation.

Causal loop diagram (CLD)

A diagram that represents variables (nodes) and feedback loops.

Coaching

help someone improve performance or outcomes

Complex problem

A novel, multifaceted problem with no obvious solution.

Complex system

A large number of elements that interact in a predictable manner.

Comprehensive prototype

A prototype that represents all elements of the final design.

Conflict of interest

A situation where personal benefit is involved.

Context (communication)

Considerations for communication, such as format, location, and time.

Context (sustainability)

Relevant factors in a problem that influence stakeholder consultation and the suitability of potential solutions.

Costs committed

Actual costs to date plus anticipated future costs from decisions made.

C-sketch

Each member contributes turns to each idea through sketching.

Clear

easy to follow, free of jargon or acronyms (appropriate language), organized and logical

concise

to the point

Correct

free of grammatical errors, correct format, factually accurate

complete

include all relevant info audience needs, clearly convey purpose

feedback: suggestions of improvement, describe impact on others, start conversation

concrete

detailed, specific, vivid, intended message is evident, data, credibility

feedback: free of judgement, focus on observable facts

courteous

polite, friendly, sincere, respect

considerate

empathetic and mindful, take into account reaction

feedback: suggestions that are achieve

Dilemma

A situation where every choice is unfavorable.

Elevator pitch

A short presentation designed to generate interest and follow-up.

Engineering design

structured and systematic process, engineering knowledge and skill applied to solve real-world, open-ended problems

Evaluation

score or rate someone’s performance against expectations/standards

Equitable (sustainability)

Societal and economic factors that contribute to sustainability.

Ethics

organized and agreed-upon principles of conduct for a group

Evaluation criteria

Measures of stakeholder satisfaction.

Expressed needs

Needs that stakeholders are aware of and share.

Fixation (anchoring)

Focusing on one idea and avoiding broad thinking.

Focused prototype

A prototype that includes a limited number of elements from the final design.

Gradual escalation

Resolving dilemmas in small steps.

Laser cutter

cutting path from computer, sub-millimetre accuracy

Limitations: low power only cut paper, cardboard, wood, plastic

Latent needs

Needs that stakeholders are not aware of.

Legitimacy

Stakeholder's moral or legal right to have a say.

Morals

Widely held societal values regarding right and wrong.

Needs

Capturing the wants and wishes of stakeholders for satisfaction.

Novice design

immediately implement solution, trial and error, possibly more cost

Physical prototype

A prototype that physically exists in the same way as the final design.

Power (salience)

The ability to influence.

Prototype

A physical or virtual model.

Purpose (communication)

Objectives and goals of communication.

Qualitative methods (prototyping)

A physical testing approach that observes patterns and relationships.

Quantitative methods (prototyping)

Collecting measurements and data.

Ranking (concept selection)

Qualitatively comparing ideas to narrow down to a small number worth investigating further; before removing idea, try to make better or extract positives

Regulations

Mandatory rules and requirements.

Reinforcing loop

A feedback loop where the initial change is amplified.

Requirements

Testable conditions and criteria that must be satisfied; minimal thresholds

Scale (sustainability)

The extent to which we view a system, from small (near/local) to large (far/global).

Scope

The work to be accomplished and the requirements to be met.

Scoring (concept selection)

A detailed, resource-intensive, quantitative evaluation of a small number of ideas.

Screening

eliminating ideas that cannot meet requirements (one fail=fail)

Sensitivity analysis

Adjusting weights and scores in WDM to see consistency.

Simple problem

A well-defined problem that is easy to solve.

Simple system

A system with a small number of elements that is deterministic.

Solution space

The collection of all conceptual solutions identified.

Spatial scale

Based on the physical extent of a system.

Stakeholder

Someone who is influenced by or can influence a project.

Standards

Voluntary guidelines for products agreed upon.

Stress

sigma = F/A

avoid breaking: stress <= strength; sigma > sigma ultimate tensile strength

Sustainability

The capacity of human civilization and Earth's natural systems to coexist.

Sustainable

Environmental, societal, and economic

System

A group of elements that interact for a common purpose.

Systems thinking

Considering things holistically.

Target design specifications

The requirements and evaluation criteria for a design; what the final design has to be or do

Technical memo

A concise written communication.

Temporal scale

Time.

Threshold needs

Needs that are expected but not mentioned.

Urgency

The critical or time-sensitive nature of a stakeholder.

Validation

Confirming that target design specifications match stakeholder needs. (Are we solving the correct problem?)

Values

Principles of right and wrong.

Verification

Checking whether a solution addresses target design specifications. (did we solve the problem correctly?)

Viable (sustainability)

Environmental and economic

Virtual prototype

A prototype that is not physical.

Waterjet

done underwater, high pressure water combined with find sand-like material, cut through almost any material (metal, glass, ceramic, concrete, plastic, wood)

limitations: 2D shapes, cannot control depth, materials will get wet

Weighted Decision Matrix

scoring based on rating multiple options against evaluation criteria with weights

Yield

type of failure

to avoid permanent deformation: stress <= yield strength

Stage 0

identify problem

Stage 1

study and clarify problem; identify stakeholder

Stage 2

generating and communicating ideas

Goal: maximize number and variety of potential solutions, greater the number and broader the range in short time

Stage 3

Identify most promising solution; screening, ranking, scoring

Stage 4

develop and test solution

Stage 5

implement solution; not end of project still consider maintenance, operation, recycling

Iteration

revisiting and revising prior work

Professional engineer

undergrad, 4 years work supervised by Peng (eng-in-training), demonstrate good character, work in English or French

3D printing

small layers melted plastic

Limitations: slow, just plastic, metal, wood fibre

Fused deposition modelling

plastic melted and deposited on a shape in strips

Selective laser sintering

fuse powdered material together in solid form

Duty ethics

obligation to make decisions that are good and right, behave the same

Utilitarianism

make decisions that max benefit

Rights ethics

ethically correct action, respect rights

Forming

beginning of team

Storming

feel more willing to speak minds, tension, disagreements, power struggle

norming

team function improves, mutual understanding of goals and Roels, quality of relationships and work improves

Performing

cohesive unit, strong identity, efficient and effective

ENPH

integrated discipline combining engineering fundamentals with science and math

IGEN

free from the need to fill multiple roles and communicate across disciplines

MECH

involved in almost every industry