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Course Overview
- Focus on systems engineering and design thinking.
- Emphasis on careful planning and execution for complex projects like bridge construction.
- Interactive lectures resembling tutorials, requiring students to engage with materials.
Course Structure
- Week-by-week content delivered through lecture slides.
- Interactive workshops designed to correlate with weekly lecture topics.
Project Guidelines
- Work on City Skylines for project planning, not game proficiency.
- Assessments based on project planning and engineering execution within the game context.
Weekly Workflow
- Week 1 focused on teamwork, weeks 2-13 structured around project requirements.
- Emails from the mayor and CEO guide project expectations.
- Key milestones and outcomes expected week 7 through project briefs and reports.
Assessment Breakdown
- Group report submission based on collaborative work.
- Split grading: group and individual contributions assessed during discussions.
- Final presentation and a 45% individual exam that references course materials drawn from lectures and workshops.
Systems Thinking
- Definition of a system: interconnected components with a specific function.
- Importance of defining system boundaries to clarify inputs and outputs.
- MEI framework: Matter, Energy, Information, useful for identifying system components.
Subsystems
- Toaster example used to illustrate subsystem identification:
- Major subsystems include thermal, mechanical, electrical, and control systems.
- Documentation framework discussed through N2 matrix for subsystem connections and debugging systems.
- Use of the N2 matrix to represent the relationship between subsystems and external inputs/outputs effectively.
- Application of Agile project management post initial planning to adjust to unexpected changes in projects.
- Importance of building foundational understanding through teamwork and engaging in both theoretical and practical applications.