APS112 Final

role of the engineering manager ( + 3 main responsibilities)

a professional mentor who guides team and evaluates work - like a supervisor in industry

responsibilities:

- develop professional skills such as writing reports, maintaining an engineering notebook, communicating with clients

- guide project work: review status reports, provide feedback, monitor team progress, and approve deliverables

- manage client communication - all communication with client must be approved by EM

weekly interactions with EM

- short weekly meeting, discussion of project progress, review of documentation, feedback performance

performance review

- assessed by engineering manager

- focus on professionalism, team contribution, communication and work quality

project management + 3 main functions

defined as: the application of skills, tools, and techniques to achieve project goals that meet stakeholder needs

1. planning: what needs to be done, when tasks occur & who is responsible

2. monitoring: tracking progress, deadlines and resources

3. controlling: adjusting schedule, workload and strategy

why project management matters cicirs

Project management helps teams:

- Clarify goals

- Coordinate resources

- Identify risks

- Save time

- Reduce costs

- Improve success rates

These benefits increase the likelihood of delivering a successful project.

definition & purpose of engineering notebook

Definition:

A permanent, chronological record of your engineering work, decisions, and observations. In APS 112, It is a timestamped story documenting your design process and evidence.

Purpose:

It serves as evidence of your work, allowing another engineer to understand your process, reproduce your work and continue your project.

What must be recorded

- dates, design ideas, calculations, sketches, team decisions, research findings, observations, problems encountered, solutions tested

Required Qualities:

- neat, accurate, legible, thorough

Top Characteristics of a Good Engineering Notebook

A strong notebook should include:

Sequentially numbered pages

Clear labels on figures and calculations

Annotated sketches

Measurement and scaling information

Evidence of research

Detailed explanations

Technical drawings

Signatures or verification when required

These elements make the notebook usable and professional.

Status Reports

- a weekly summary of project progress

- ensures alignment between tasks and project schedule

- tasks MUST match the gantt chart

Status reports help teams:

Track progress

Identify problems

Communicate updates

Maintain accountability

Stay on schedule

the document cycle

Draft → Edited version → Proofread version → Feedback from TA → Revisions → Approval by Engineering Manager → Submission to client

This process continues until the document is approved.

client email, addressing client & required content

1. sets up meeting

2. sets the tone for professionalism

- is our first impression as engineers

address: professional title + last name or full name

- must identify course context. uoft, client project

- request meeting & provide at least 3 meeting times

- meeting length 1 hour

- default meeting is in person at a location convenient for the client

- team must book the meting room

client meeting plan

A structured preparation document for your first meeting.

It ensures:

You communicate effectively You understand your client You ask the right questions

audience analysis

- assessing client to communicate at correct level

- use client statement & research

Background

Education

Technical knowledge

Role in the project

Motivation

Do not assume client capabilities.

communication in engineering design

engineering design involves: choice, decisions, transformation

PLR definition & 6 required components

def: The purpose is to coordinate team knowledge and organize the project conceptually and practically

6 required components:

-Identify research focus

-State research question

-Document search strategy

-Provide working link

-Create IEEE citation

-Explain how source informs project

research : serial vs parallel work + why discussion matters

serial work - 1 person working at the time

parallel work - everyone works simultaneously

parallel work requires coordination, communication & non-overlapping times

discussion matters because: "time spent in discussion is time saved on task."

research focus (foci)

a research focus is: an unknown in the client problem that requires investigation

EX. problem: winter alleyways are dangerous

possible research foci: ice prevention methods, material friction, environmental impact

prioritization of research (4 factors)

importance, difficulty, connection to other tasks, required knowledge

CRAAP TEST

currency: is it up to date?

- check publication, updates / revisions, timeliness

relevance: does it directly help the project

- topic match (does it answer questions), level of detail,

authority

- who created? affiliations of author? can credentials be verified? can you find info about author online?

accuracy

- Can you verify any theories/statistics/data provided?

- What are the sources of any theories/statistics/data provided?

- Are artworks, charts and tables clearly labeled and easy to read?

- Is there any information about the methodology used in gathering statistics/data provided or analyzing artworks and topics?

purpose

- What type of document is it? (Different types of documents each have their own purpose)

- Why was the material produced?

- What biases are evident?

properties of good research questions

Clear Focused Answerable Relevant

good vs bad

How do we fix winter safety?

What materials increase traction on icy surfaces in urban environments?

gantt chart + 4 steps to build + def of task

def: a timeline showing tasks and their dependencies

Step 1 — Define tasksStep 2 — Sequence tasksStep 3 — Create timelineStep 4 — Analyze schedule

A task is:

a specific piece of work required to move the project forward

Includes:

owner

start date

finish date

duration

dependencies

This definition comes directly from the lecture.

key gantt chart definitions - dependency, concurrent, milestone, critical path, slack

dependency - one task must finish before another begins (e.g. PR and CDS)

concurrent tasks: can happen at the same time

milestone: a task with 0 duration (e.g. project completion)

critical path.- longest chain of dependent events - determines project finish date

slack - the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting project completion

Bar position: Start and end time

Bar length: Duration

Arrows: Dependencies

Dotted lines: Slack

Critical tasks: Highlighted

Engineering Estimation

Engineering estimation is a calculated value using information, methods, and data that may be vague, imperfect, or incomplete.

Also called:

back-of-the-envelope

order-of-magnitude

ballpark figure

educated guess

estimation procedure (7 steps)

1 — Understand the problem

2 — Break it into smaller parts

3 — Make assumptions

4 — Estimate values

5 — Perform calculations

6 — Check and refine

7 — Explain reasoning

** State your assumptions **

Types of Estimation Methods (3)

Analogous Estimation

- using similar past data

- eg previous olympics cost 10 billion dollars, new olympics similar cost

Top Down Estimation

- start with big picture then divide into parts

- ex total project cost -> component costs

Bottom Up Estimation

- estimate small pieces first amd them add up to overall

Metric vs MoS

metric: an idea for how to measure an objective (solution independent)

- eg weight (kg), speed (m/s)

measure of success: a test procedure used to evaluate a specific design (solution specific)

key diffference: metric = what to measure , MoS= how to test

choose mOS for most important objective

Engineering design workflow (from client statement -> conclusion

Front matter

Problem definition

Design selection

Proposed design

Measure of Success

Conclusion

Client meeting 1

purpose: gather info

we: ask questions and understand problem

client meeting 2

purpose: reach agreement

client must approve: problem definition, design requirements

Engineering argument (SEE)

statement

evidence

explanation

Example

Statement:

This design improves safety.

Evidence:

Slip rate reduced by 30%.

Explanation:

Lower slip rate means safer walking.

reverse engineering

Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing an existing system by taking it apart — physically, logically, or conceptually — to understand how it works and improve or replicate it.

"Look at existing solutions so your design decisions are informed, not random."

4 practical steps of reverse engineering

1. Define the design

- What is the purpose?

- Who are the users?

- What constraints exist?

2. Make operational observations

- How does it respond to inputs?

- How well does it meet objectives?

3. Methodical disassembly & documentation

- Materials

- Components

- Measurements

- Function of each part

4. Reassemble and test

- Does it still work?

- What did you learn?

benefits of reverse engineering

helps with

- competitor analysis

- idea generation

- improving designs

- innovations after patents expire

prototyping

def of prototype:

- an early, testable version of a product, system or process

purpose:

- test function, get feedback & reduce risk in design decisions

iterative design look

test feasibility -> explore tradeoffs -> get feedback -> repeat

low vs high fidelity prototypes

low fidelity :

sketches

paper models

simple mockups

fast and cheap

focus on function and flow

high fidelity:

realistic materials

working models

closer to final product

used for performance testing

tradeoff curve - why we don't start with full prototypes

confidence increases as resources increase

- estimation

- modelling

- prototyping

project management trangle , also called triple constraint

COST, TIME / SPEED, SCOPE / QUALITY

two can be optimized, but the third usually takes a hit

PRC : critical path length / minimum project time

calculate each path (dependent tasks back to back) and the longest one is the critical path