Figure 1: The SpreadSheet Design
(SSD) Process
1.1 What Do We Mean By Design?
1.3 Ethics
2. Senior Design Project Sequence
2.1 Project Teams
2.2 Projects
2.3 Customer
2.4 Advisors
2.6 The SpreadSheet Design (SSD) Process
3.1 Oral Reviews
3.2 Written Reports
3.3 Log Books
3.5 Machine Shop
3.6 Project Expenses
3.7 Project Grade
New Castle Design Associates is operated in conjunction with the Design and Systems Synthesis courses, MEEG 447 and MEEG 448, which are taught in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Delaware. New Castle Design Associates (NCDA) was founded, in its present form, in September 1976 by Dr. John R. Zimmerman, Professor Emeritus. To date, some 1100 NCDA engineers have completed over 330 projects.
Design and Systems Synthesis is a year-long course sequence structured to imitate the scenario a young engineer will experience in a design team in industry. In the fall, teams select a project, discover customer's wants, benchmark the best practices for each desired function, generate design concepts and select the best concept. In the spring, teams build a prototype, test it, and improve their designs. The courses are managed as NCDA, which serves to provide a realistic industrial management structure and professional background for the design project activities. Each MEEG 447/448 student is an NCDA staff engineer. The course instructors serve as the R & D directors.
Design and Systems Synthesis I and II, MEEG 447 and MEEG 448 respectively,
provide the academic structure for all NCDA activities. This is a required
series for all seniors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Delaware. Due to the organization of the activities, MEEG
447 must be taken in the Fall semester followed immediately by MEEG 448
in the Spring.
1.1 WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DESIGN?
Engineering design is the process of devising a solution that meets a defined set of desired needs. It is a decision-making process (almost always iterative), in which mathematics, the basic sciences and the engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet the stated objectives. The fundamental elements of the design process include:
The principal objectives of this activity are met by placing student engineers in a situation where they experience a design process. At the end of the two-semester sequence, all design teams will have been required to:
Professional ethics are an important consideration in any professional organization. Therefore, New Castle Design Associates requires that all engineering members observe the following ethical considerations:
A significant portion of each engineer's effort will focus on the solution of a problem presented by a customer of NCDA. Each design team must define the problem, synthesize conceptual solutions, develop a detailed solution, construct a prototype, test & evaluate the prototype, and record & report its findings. In addition, each team must handle the acquisition of all needed materials and maintain contacts with its customer, its advisor and the administration of NCDA.
As in industry, student engineers will be assigned to specific teams by the NCDA management. Each team will develop written ground rules to be included in their project proposal.
Staff engineers work together as a team with each person contributing as equally as possible to the team's effort. An average staff engineer involvement in MEEG 447/448 is 10-12 hours per week for 30 weeks. This is the average; the team must plan the time so that all the effort is not compressed into the last month or so before the project completion date.
For the team to function properly, each individual must contribute as an active team member, the individual team members must coordinate their efforts, and the team must maintain frequent contact and communication with the customer(s). From our experience, the biggest problem areas for the student engineers are in recognizing the importance of continual communication with the customer(s) and in appreciating the critical constraint that all work must be completed by the end of the course.
Each team shall select one of its members to be the project liaison. The role of this person is to serve as the main contact between the project team and the management of New Castle Design Associates. A team may change its project liaison but must notify the management, in writing, of this change.
Any difficulties experienced among team members should be handled by the team, if possible. If no resolution to the problem can be found, the problem should immediately be brought to the attention of the R&D Directors. In extreme cases, there is a mechanism by which a student engineer may "resign" or be "fired." Although an effort will be made to re-assign that engineer, based on the time constraints and the sequential nature of MEEG 447/448, in general that particular student engineer will be required to retake the courses in a different academic year.
A list of projects will be provided to each student engineer at the start of the Fall semester. In addition to an in-company review of all projects, a Customer Night will be held to allow engineers to further clarify customer needs. All engineers are required to attend this evening meeting. Following the Customer Night, each design team must fill in a project selection sheet indicating its project preferences. The R&D Directors will then assign projects.
Staff engineers may also make project proposals to the management. Proposals should be submitted, in writing, directly to the R&D Directors. The ideal project is one that: 1) provides a challenging assignment for a team of 3/4 staff engineers over the two semesters, 2) is initially somewhat vague in nature, 3) requires a sound theoretical and practical analysis, and 4) has a working system or piece of hardware as the prototype that demonstrates the team's achievement. The management reserves the right to determine the acceptability of all proposals.
Each project is sponsored by a customer. It is the customer who first outlines the problem and to whom the final written report is directed. The customer defines the basic project objectives. All modifications to project objectives must be approved by the customer. Customers should be given oral project updates at least once a month and must be invited to all oral presentations. In addition, customers who wish to evaluate the written reports or the oral presentations will directly affect the team's evaluation for that portion of the project.
Each project team will be assigned a project advisor. The advisor's role is to advise the team -- particularly regarding project management techniques and in developing and suggesting contacts for obtaining appropriate information. Meetings should be scheduled with advisors on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
The R&D Directors serve as informal advisors to all projects.
They provide an additional channel to obtain information and handle project
management. Occasionally, the customer may also define a technical resource
to address specific technical topics. However, all these resources act
only as sounding boards and information sources. The solution of the chosen
problem must be done solely by the project team.
The schedule is meant to set a reasonable unit of time for each meaningful task. The goal of scheduling is defining those tasks.
All schedules will contain the milestones required by the various reviews at the times specified in this academic year's Master Calendar for the Senior Design Projects. The schedule should be detailed for the finished time frame, specific about the time frame up to the next review and general about the remainder of the MEEG 447/448 experience.
For example, it would be reasonable at the first review to assign a few days to the task of, "Preparing the Final Oral Review." However, as the time for that review approaches, we would expect to see more meaningful tasks: make overheads, practice the presentation, etc.; and more reasonable times associated with those tasks. After the milestone, we would expect to see the actual tasks involved with their times.
Each NCDA project team will be expected to use a design tool known
as SpreadSheet Design (SSD). The SSD process is a framework for integrating,
prioritizing, and abstracting the essential information needed by an engineering
design team to make a timely decision on the best course of action given
the information and other resource constraints. The SSD process is made
up of five elements: Definition, Requirements, Benchmarking, Concepts,
and the Go/No-Go Review. Figure 1 depicts these fundamental components
of SSD, along with some of the characteristics of each. The graphic should
not be interpreted to mean the order is linear or the duration is equal
for all stages.
Figure 1: The SpreadSheet Design
(SSD) Process
Of the oral reports described in section 3.1, each presentation will summarize the previous SSD stages and highlight any iterations requiring changes to prior decisions.
Each team must develop a prototype of its design for the Preliminary Design Review. This will begin the cycle of testing and re-design that concludes in the spring. This process can be expensive if not carefully managed. The customer should provide materials and/or financial support. The team can expect to get some help in machining, welding, etc. from the College of Engineering shop, as well as access to small items of hardware. Creative (but honest) scrounging may be required.
To promote timely completion of the prototype, the management requires each team to submit a detailed list of parts to be manufactured and items to be purchased. Constructing the prototype will also require substantial time for fabricating and assembly. It is generally not the case that all the pieces will fit together perfectly and that the item will work the first time; plan accordingly.
The final prototype ultimately belongs to the organization that provided most of the real funds, or purchased parts, for its construction. In most cases, this will be the customer.
Developing the prototype is only part of the goal. In addition, each
team will be expected to demonstrate how the system or device meets the
requirements that have been defined relative to the team's objectives.
This can only be achieved through careful testing of the prototype. Each
team must submit a test plan at the Status Review that clearly demonstrates
how the team will demonstrate that it has met its objective.
The NCDA Board evaluates team progress throughout the year. The primary means for the teams to communicate with the Board is a series of oral reviews and written reports.
There are seven oral reviews that will be given during the eight months of project development; i.e., Fall and Spring academic terms. Each team is required to notify its customer and advisor(s) of the place and time for all oral reviews, and invite them, in writing, to attend.
Project Progress Review - The team is to review progress to date against the team's commitment made in the Project Proposal. It is expected that each team will present a summary of the requirements and benchmarking phases of SSD. In addition the team should present a variety of conceptual ideas. They should also advise the NCDA Board of any changes in the team's commitment. This is a time to demonstrate your creativity and present as many reasonable approaches as possible. It is not a time to present intricate details, but the management will expect to see some engineering analysis to demonstrate "reasonableness".
Preliminary Design Review - The team is to review the results of its first semester's project work and to present the budget for construction of its prototype. The team must present a preliminary design for project solution. This must include a functional prototype of the chosen solution(s). The team is also expected to have preliminary drawings and/or specifications for parts to be purchased. The work plan should also be reviewed.
Prototype Completion Review - This is a walk-through review of the prototype. Each prototype will be reviewed by the NCDA Board. Teams will report what percentage is completed.
Project Status Review - This is a formal poster review at the Delaware Days Open House for prospective students and their parents. The team is to review progress to date. Detailed construction information must be presented. Prototypes must be completed by this review, and in this review the team must also present a detailed plan for testing and evaluation.
Project Completion Walk-Through Review - This is a review of project completion and will be conducted prior to the Final Oral Review.
Final Oral Review - This is a formal oral review given to a general audience of staff engineers, faculty, customers, advisors, invited guests, and the University community. The team is to review the results of its project effort; that is, review the solution and how it was chosen, demonstrate the prototype, evaluate the test results and present recommendations for further development. It has been a tradition for the Delaware Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to provide a panel of judges for the Final Oral Reviews. At its Annual Student Night meeting in May, prizes are awarded for the three best projects as judged by that panel. Winning groups are expected to re-present their Final Oral Review at this meeting.
All written reports must be professional quality. The purpose of the body of the report is to emphasize the team's decision-making process. Any detailed analyses are to be included in an appropriately referenced appendix. Unless otherwise indicated, page limits apply only to the body of the report. Please double space.
Preliminary Design Report - This is a formal written report reviewing the work of the first semester; that is, the development effort and the details of the proposed solution to the customer's problem.
Project Status Report - This is a draft of the Final Written Report. It is the team's responsibility to schedule a meeting with the R&D Directors to discuss any required modifications before preparing the final report.
Final Written Report - This is a formal written report reviewing the entire design effort, detailing the construction of the prototype, and presenting all test results. Many projects will require a separate operator's manual, which must be included as an Appendix in the Final Report. Final reports will not be returned to the team. They will be kept as a potential source of information for future teams.
Every staff engineer is required to keep and maintain an NCDA logbook. The logbook is an individual's record of the progress on the project; the logbook must include a date for each entry, and a weekly summary of all time spent on the course. Because of the possibility of patents, each staff engineer should be careful about maintaining his or her logbook. Binders and loose papers are not allowed. The team may even want to consider having significant ideas notarized. Think of the logbook as a "diary" of your participation in the project.
Prints or drawings are required for all work done in the machine shop. There must be a record of all work done in the machine shop, whether by the machinists or by the staff engineers. Staff engineers, after being checked out on the specific equipment they need, will be allowed to operate equipment only after submitting a drawing to the Machinist that has been signed by an appropriate NCDA Board member.
All staff engineers are required to attend a machine shop orientation session. The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of each machine and its capabilities, to review the personal safety rules that must be observed by all staff engineers using the machine shop and to familiarize staff engineers with other shop facilities. No staff engineer will be permitted to work in the machine shop or use the facility in any way until he or she has completed this orientation session.
Horseplay, practical jokes and similar activities are absolutely forbidden in the machine shop at any time. Any staff engineer not acting appropriately will be denied use of the machine shop by the R&D Directors.
Staff engineers must be checked out by one of the machine shop personnel on machine operation each time they wish to operate a particular machine before use of that machine will be permitted. There will be a limit to the number of machines the machinists will allow to be operational at any given moment. This is to ensure that the machinists can control the amount of activity in the machine shop.
Each project team must provide its own set of basic tools:
Prints or drawings are required for all work in the machine shop.
Any injury, or any cut which draws blood, must be reported to the shop personnel. Before returning to work, the staff engineer must go to the "Student Health Center" (Infirmary) and fill out an accident report.
Any staff engineer not following all shop rules will be denied use of the machine shop.
The team is responsible for management of all of its finances. Expenses for report preparation are the responsibility of the team members. The team should retain originals of any reports and submit only copies. At the Preliminary Design Review, each team must submit an estimated budget for prototype construction. Expenses for the construction of the prototype are normally the responsibility of the customer. Each team must work with its customer on allowable expenses. For funds requested of NCDA, the R&D Directors will review all budgets and supply each team with a decision on any NCDA budget allocation.
Travel should be done only if costs are absorbed by the team, reimbursed by the customer or approved in writing by the R&D Directors. Requests for such extended travel should be submitted in writing to the R&D Directors at least one month prior to the departure date.
The ME Department will provide laboratory facilities, shop facilities and personnel time as its resources permit. It is customary to give staff engineers as much access to laboratories and shops for their projects as is practical. Use of laboratory space and equipment must be cleared with the ME Lab Coordinator. Use of the shop must be arranged with the Student Shop Machinist.
Each team member's project grade will be derived from the team's grades on oral and written reports, and by the perceptions of the team members on the relative contribution to the team made by each team member. Oral and written report grades are a weighted average of the judgments provided by faculty, peers, practicing engineers, customers, advisors, and other invited reviewers. In addition, each team member will have his or her logbook reviewed.
Staff engineers may utilize the space in room 109 Spencer for constructing their prototype. All projects have equal access to this room. Other labs and sites in Spencer may be allocated to certain projects. Each team is responsible for keeping all of its work areas clean.
Each team will have a correspondence box in 109 Spencer. All communications to the groups will be placed in these boxes. Phone access is also available in room 126 Spencer. All long distance phone calls must be recorded. The R&D Directors must be able to account for all charges made on this phone. Abuse of this privilege will result in removal of the phone.
Keys for either Senior Design room may be borrowed from the main office. Contact the secretary, 126 Spencer, for the appropriate procedure to obtain a key.
As appropriate, students are recognized as co-inventors if any patentable
idea is generated during the project. The students will help prepare the
Invention Disclosure to the Patent and Trademark Office. They will use
their Log Books to authenticate the date of occurrence of the idea. The
University or the Customer (for projects identified as Proprietary) will
have the right to commercialize any invention arising from the project.
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester |
| Project Proposal - 30% | Project Status Review - 40% |
| Project Progress Review - 30% | Final Design Review - 60% |
| Preliminary Design Review - 40% | |
| Total 100% | Total 100% |