© 2006 baylor university slide 1 engineering method/ team building

© 2006 Baylor University

Engineering Method/

Team Building


Lecture 2:The Engineering Method / Team Building /

Creative Problem Solving

Approximate Running Time – 44 minutes

Distance Learning / Online Instructional Presentation

Presented by:Department of Mechanical Engineering &

Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringBaylor University


Dr. Carolyn SkurlaSpeaking

•Outline–The Engineering Method

–Team Building

–Creative Problem Solving

–Plagiarism

Lecture 2 Topics


• Engineers are not defined by their product– Nano-robots

– Airplanes

– Embedded Computers

• Engineers are defined by their method– Finding the best change using available

resources in an environment of uncertainty

What is an Engineer?


• The clergy in Iran engineered the firing of the president.

• The chessmaster engineered a perfect countermove.

• The general engineered a coup

d'état without the loss of life.

http://www.teamclouds.com/staff/dawboy/images/chess_set.png

“To Engineer”


• The Scientific Method

– Well-understood, even by the layperson.

– “Science is theory corrected by experiment.”

– All variables held constant except one.

– “Answer in the back of the book.”

– Extensively analyzed by philosophers

Why is Engineering Such a Mystery?


• The Engineering Method

– Little significant research into the philosophical foundations of engineering.

– Can you name an engineer who is wise, well-known, well-read, and scholarly?

• Contrast with law, economics, medicine, politics, religion, and science

– Can you name a public spokesperson in any of these fields?



• Few high school students take engineering courses

• Liberal arts students are not required to study technology

• Technology students are required to study liberal arts



• Change: the situation requires a change.

• Best: the best change is desired...

• Resources: using the available resources

• Uncertainty: knowledge about the situation is incomplete

and sometimes inconsistent

Four Key Elements of Engineering Problems


Time

Mea

sure

of

Cha

nge

A

B

Change


• Four practical difficulties in getting from A to B:

– Engineer lacks complete knowledge of the world at A

– The exact final state, B, is unknown and cannot be anticipated

– There is no single path from A to B

– Engineering goals can change during the process

• The location of B drifts!

Change


• Is all change caused by engineers good?

– What about unintended consequences?

• Aswan High Dam in Egypt

– Can you think of any engineering disasters?

• Tacoma Narrows Bridge

• Kansas City Hyatt Regency

• Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in U.S.S.R.

Change

© 2006 Baylor University http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html

Unintended Consequences


• Increased salinity of the Nile by 10%

– Led to collapse of sardine industry

• Caused coastal erosion

• Displaced 100,000 Nubians

– Drastically altering their way of life

Unintended Consequences


• Tangible Resources

– Money available for project

– Time to complete project

– Raw materials (e.g., steel, concrete, silicon)

– Computer resources

– Number of engineers

• Intangible Resources– Engineering staff’s past experience

with similar projects

– Engineering staff’s interest level

http://newportbeachattorneys.org/gen02_clock.jpg

http://fullcircle.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/free_money.jpg

Available Resources


• Problem : Estimate the number of ping-pong balls that can fill a room– 60 seconds– 2 days– Unlimited time

• Each time limit defines a new engineering problem because the time resource is different

• Each solution would be correct from an engineering point of view.

Time as a Resource


• Best for whom?– Westerners are conditioned to accept Plato’s notion of the

ideal

– A new concept of “best”

• Optimization theory– The optimum compromise

– Apollo Program• Leapfrog learning

• Political vs. economic tradeoffs

Best


Consider a television with only one knob:Increased knob setting results in sharper picture,Increased knob setting also results in worse sound.

Best: Television Example


Assuming Picture and Sound are Equally Weighted



Picture is half as important as Sound (for a person with hearing problems)



• Engineers are asked to find a solution to a problem while lacking complete information

• In Change: both the starting and ending points (A & B) are not fully known

• Resources: intangible resources cannot be quantified, yet they affect the outcome

• Best: the best design is not always clear, best for whom?

Uncertainty


• Your future employer requires teamwork skills• Student-centered learning is encouraged

– Active learning

– Collaborative learning

– Cooperative learning• Positive interdependence

• Individual accountability

• Face-to-face interaction

• Appropriate use of interpersonal skills

• Regular self-assessment of group functioning

Why Work in Teams?


• Improved– Student-faculty interaction– Student-student interaction– Grades & information retention– Teamwork & interpersonal skills– Communication skills– Training for the professional work environment

Benefits of Cooperative Learning


• Thinking Aloud Pairs Problem-Solving (TAPPS)– Students form pairs

• Problem-Solver (PS)– Talks through solution to the problem

• Listener (L)– Questions

– Prompts PS to keep talking

– Gives clues when necessary

– Short training exercise

Creative Problem Solving


EXERCISE 1: TRAVELS OF A BOOKWORM

I II III IV

inchCover61

inchesText 2How many covers did the worm eat through? (Call this x.)

How many texts did the worm eat through? (Call this y.)

inchesyinchxLength 261

Where is page 1 of Volume I?

Where is the last page of Volume IV?

inchesLength

inchesinchLength

5

2261

6

TAPPS Training Exercise - Solution


EXERCISE 2:

B C O R

S

D

P

W

Clue 1

X XClue 2

X

X XX

Clue 3

X

X

X

X X

X

Clue 4

TAPPS Training Exercise - Solution


• “Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.”1

1Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN <http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html>

Plagiarism


• “To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use– another person's idea, opinion, or theory;

– any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any pieces of information--that are not common knowledge;

– quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or

– paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.”1

1Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN <http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html>

How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism?


• Go to the Indiana University’s website on plagiarism.– http://education.indiana.edu/%7Efrick/plagiarism/ – Explore the links, examples, and quizzes until you

are ready to attempt the test.– Print the confirmation certificate, fill it out, sign it,

and:• Fax a copy to your instructor OR

• Scan it and e-mail a copy to your instructor

How to Avoid Plagiarism?


Sample #1:

Responsible engineering wastes neither physical nor mental resources. Economic constraints are often imposed by the demands of the marketplace.

Sample #2:

According to Petroski, “Responsible engineering wastes neither physical nor mental resources [1].” Marketplace demands often impose economic constraints.

Bibliography:1. Petroski, Henry. To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. Vintage Books, New York (1992).

Unacceptable

Unacceptable

Plagiarism Exercise


Sample #3:

According to Petroski, responsible engineering wastes neither physical nor mental resources [1].


Sample #4:

According to Petroski, “Responsible engineering wastes neither physical nor mental resources [1].” He also states that marketplace realities may necessitate fiscal limitations.


Unacceptable

Acceptable

Plagiarism Exercise


This Concludes Lecture 2


References

• Koen, Billy Vaughn, Discussion of The Method, Oxford University Press, 2003

• Egypt map from CIA website: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html

• Aswan Dam photo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/nl/thumb/f/fa/280px-AswanHighDam_Egypt.jpg

© 2006 baylor university slide 1 engineering method/ team building

Documents

topics slide

b change slide

engineering disasters

b engineering goals

best change

technology technology

location of b drifts

creative problem