Resume Project

Rough Draft due: Friday, December 5

Final Draft due: Wednesday, December 10

Please read the resume assignment.

Review these resources for resume writing on the Purdue Online Writing Lab:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/631/01/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20061128102341_564.pdf

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/543/01/ 

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/543/02/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/626/01/

 

 

In-Class Work; to be completed by end of class 11/14

1. As a team, draft Parts 1 and 2 of Progress Report.

2. Individually, draft discussion of individual contributions. Review with team; integrate into Part 2 of report.

3. As team, determine plan for organizing Part 3; create subheadings.

4. Create flowchart or other visual representation of your optimization strategy.

 

*Team-to-Team Peer Review of Parts 1 and 2 on Wednesday, November 19. Bring 14 copies of Part 1 and Team-Authored Part 2. Bring ONE COPY of Individual Contributions*

 

Wind Turbines in the News (due individually on paper by Friday, November 14)

Please read the following article, "Wind-Power Politics," from the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/magazine/14wind-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=magazine&pagewanted=all (you may need to create a free account to read the entire piece; it's also available through the Library databases)

After reading it, respond to the following:

1. What are the technical, political, social, and economic obstacles to wind turbines, as described by the article?

2. How are those obstacles being overcome? What persuasive strategies has Bluewater used to convince Delaware citizens, legistlators, and industry to support his business plan?

3. How will persuasion factor into your progress reports? What kinds of information will be persuasive, and why?

4. How does reading this article help to situate your clinic project within ongoing discussions about sustainability and engineering design? In other words, how does the article give you additional perspective or appreciation for your current project?

 

Use full sentences, integrate quotes, and use specific examples.

 

 

Progress Report Assignment Posted

We will review it today in class.

 

Gantt Chart (work on set-up during class on November 7)

Resources:

http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/6550.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQwE0Xv1lAA

Begin working on Individual Contributions section for Progress Report (full assignment to be distributed soon)

 

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Mini Progress Reports (due in wiki by Friday, November 7)

 

In a few weeks, you will be asked to write a formal progress report on the wind turbine. To prepare for the report, and to practice good documentation, I am asking you to periodically write informal progress reports and post them to your team wiki. Your reports should be detailed and concise, demonstrating your knowledge of the design problem as well as documenting your team’s design decisions.

 

 

Though these will be posted on the wiki, I will be the primary audience for right now and will be reading these from a managerial perspective. From your report, I should feel confident that the members of the team have a concrete understanding of the design objectives and the tools necessary to complete the project.

 

 

For Friday, November 7, please complete the following:

 

 

1. Definition of Design Problem (as you currently understand it—you will likely update this definition as you learn more in lab)

 

2. Summary of what the power generated by your wind turbine will depend on; summary of the concepts, terminology, and variables used to describe the design problem

 

 

3. Discussion of the calculation you are writing as computer code and what its purpose is.

 

 

Formatting: memo format; figures encouraged. Create a separate link to progress reports in your sidebar. Design is up to you, but make it navigable and easy to find.

 

 

 

White Paper (ongoing)

New: please review the handout on Abstracts before Friday

Review White Paper rubric; bring two copies to class with you for Peer Review on Friday.

 

Review IEEE Citation Style by Friday, October 24

University of Toronto's Engineering Communication Centre: http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~writing/bbieee-help.html#author

Please print out and bring to class with you.

 

Rough Draft of complete white paper due Friday, October 31.

We will have a peer review day. Please bring two copies to class with you.

 

Complete the following by Wednesday, October 22; bring completed white paper plan to class with you.

 

 

• What is the problem?
• Why is it a problem?
• Are there any related problems?
• Who does the problem affect?
• What will happen to those people/places/animals if the problem is not solved?
• Have there been other attempts to solve the problem? Why have they not worked?
• What costs—financial or otherwise—are associated with possible solutions?
• What are potential solutions? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each?
• What is your final solution? Why is it superior to other alternatives?
• Who is the audience for this white paper?

 

 

Begin White Paper Research

Complete Source Documentation and Evaluation Sheet for each source

Review all of the following resources:

 

Google Scholar

http://www.scirus.com/

Campbell Library resources:
Cambell Library Resources for Engineers: http://libguides.rowan.edu/content.php?pid=3521&sid=19206
List of Rowan's Engineering Databases: http://www.rowan.edu/library//databases_subject/engineering.htm
Academic Honesty for Engineers: http://www.rowan.edu/library//databases_subject/documents/academic%20honesty%20for%20engineers.htm
Article databases for Engineers: http://libguides.rowan.edu/content.php?pid=3521&sid=19204

 

Submit topic by Friday, October 17 to Professor Courtney

 

Due by Friday, October 10

Team Charter

 

 

Due by Wednesday, October 8

Read and print out white paper assignment. Bring it to class.

Complete "bug list."

 

 

Reminder: Peer Review of Rocket Report, Wednesday October 1

Please print out and bring 2 drafts of your report, one copy of Reader One and Two rubric, and one copy of Reader Three rubric, located on the main clinic wiki.

 

Due by End of Class, Friday, September 19

Audience Analysis of Rocket Report

Answer the following questions for each of your report readers and post your analysis on your team wiki.

 

Reader One: Writing faculty: entire report, excluding appendices

Reader Two: Engineering faculty: entire report

Reader Three: Engineering faculty: executive summary, conclusions, figures and tables

Who’s reading the document? Why?

How will they use the document?

What’s the technical background of your audience(s)?

What things are likely to matter most to each audience?

What things are likely to irritate each audience?

What effect do you want the document to have on the audience?

 

 

Due by Friday, September 19 in class

Individual: Draft of design problem definition

Individual: Draft of technical description

Team: Update wiki with testing data from lab

 

 

Due by Thursday, September 11 in Team Wiki

 

Using your notes from lab and from your brief class meeting on Friday, 8/5, describe the team's approach to the first bottle rocket. What did you test? How did you refine ideas? What have you learned that's applicable to the next stage of the project?

 

Summarize main points from Dr. Riddell's lecture about rocket performance.

 

As a team, complete the following:

 

Food for Thought Questions

1.    When developing a parametric model, a designer is likely to purposely introduce constraints- thereby limiting the design instances that are available. Why would a designer do this?

2.    What other things might introduce constraints into a design?

3.    What are the advantages of using only a single parameter to define a family of fins for your rocket?

4.    What are the disadvantages of using only a single parameter to define a family of fins for your rocket?

5.    What happens if you design the family of fins using a parameter that does not have a strong effect on the performance of your rocket?

6.    What happens if you design the family of fins in a way that does not admit any specific instances that are effective?

7.    How should you approach the development of your parametric model so as to avoid these issues?

 

Preliminary Parametric Models

Sketch at least three possible fin families to consider.   Remember that each family must be defined by a single parameter.  For each possible model, explain what the parameter is and show in a sketch how you would vary it (if necessary, do this on paper and upload to wiki later).

 

Parametric Model and Description of Rocket

With your team, define the parametric model of the rocket you will optimize over the next three weeks.  In a written description, provide the following:

·         A summary of the parameters you are optimizing, including the constraints that have been placed on your design

·         A description of the rocket, including materials, components, and methods of attachment

·         An explanation of your testing strategy (how you will conduct testing of the three parameters in order to optimize the rocket’s performance)

 

Include and refer to at least two figures:

·         A schematic diagram of the rocket showing its components

·         A diagram depicting the family of fins/wings that you are testing

 

I recommend that you post your parametric model and description in your wiki or show it to the engineering faculty before the lab period when you will begin work on optimizing your rocket.  This will allow you to make the best possible use of lab time for varying and testing parameters.

 

Due by Friday, September 12

Design your team's wiki page and include a page for short assignments from the writing section. Once organized, upload your team's list of qualities of good engineering writing from class 9/5. 

 

Friday, September 5

Why is writing important to engineers? What kinds of writing do engineering students do? What kinds of on-the-job writing do professional engineers do? What are some common features of good engineering writing? How does writing in engineering differ from, say, writing in an English course?

 

To begin to get a feel for what constitutes good writing in engineering and to answer the questions above, conduct some research. Using a variety credible web and/or print sources, develop a one page overview of what topics, genres and features are key in engineering writing. Cite your information throughout, and provide a list of sources used. Be ready to talk about your findings in class.