The goal of this seminar is to introduce freshmen to
the design process of an engineering project.
The seminar will consist of a series of lectures. The first
part of each lecture will focus on the different design aspects
of an engineering project, including formation of the design team,
developing a project statement, generating design ideas and
specifications, finalizing the design, and reporting the outcome.
Students will form teams to follow these procedures in designing
a term project of their choice over the quarter. The second part
of each lecture will consist of outside speakers, including
founders of some of the top companies in Silicon Valley,
who will share their experiences about engineering design. On-site
visits to IDEO and Google will also be part of the course.
The seminar serves three purposes: (1) it introduces students
to the design process of turning an idea into a final design, (2)
it presents the different functions that people play in a project, and
(3) it gives students a chance to consider what role in a project would be best suited to their interests and skills.
Basic Course Information
Class Time and Location:
M 3:15-5:05, 60-119 on main Quad (note room change).
Instructors:
Andrea Goldsmith, Packard 371, andrea@ee, 5-6932.
Office Hours: M before class and by appointment.
My T. Le, drmytle@yahoo.com, 650 224 1352, OHs: M 1:30-2:15 and by appt.
Administrator: Pat Oshiro, poshiro@stanford,
365 Packard, 3-3164.
Required Textbook: Engineering Design, A Project-Based Introduction
by Clive Dym and Patrick Little.
Grading: Class Participation: 20%, Assignments: 20%, Project: 60%.
Assignments and Deadlines (Required Reading, Project-Based Assignments,
Writing Assignments).
Your first writing assignment is due Feb. 18.
A field trip to Google, with dinner,
is tenatively scheduled for March 6 4pm-7pm. Another field trip may
also be scheduled. Project groups
should be formed and a one paragraph initial project
description turned in by 1/30.
Groups should be approximately 4 students. You should have weekly project meetings starting Feb. 4. The notes from these meetings must be sent to My and Andrea by the end of week.
The problem statement, brainstorming results, and objective tree for your project is due Feb. 11
Make it my computer Report ,
Presentation
Lighting a Green Dorm Report ,
Presentation
Water Proof Cellphone Report ,
Presentation
Lecture 1 (1/14): Introduction to Engineering Design
Lecture 2 (1/28): The Design Process
Lecture 3 (2/4): Defining an Engineering Problem <
Lecture (2/11)4: Functions and Specifications
Lecture 5 (2/25): Generating Design Ideas
Lecture 6 (3/3): Why Things Fail
Google Field Trip (w/dinner)
: March 6 (tentative), 4-7pm
Lecture 7 (3/10): Wrapping Up, Looking Ahead, and Long-Term Impact
Project Presentations, March 19 (12:30-3:30).