APSC

 100  Midterm  Review  

 
Pre-­‐‑Module  
 
What  does  an  engineer  need  to  know  or  do?  
 
1.    Apply  knowledge  
  
2.    Analyze  problems  
  
3.    Conduct  investigations  
4.    Design  
  
5.    Use  engineering  tools    
6.    Work  in  teams  
  
7.    Communicate  effectively  
  
8.  Embrace  professionalism    
9.  Consider  impact  of  actions    
10.  Act  ethically  
11.  Manage  projects
  
12.  Commit  to  learning    
 
Module  1:  Design  Process  
 

 
 
Stages:  
 
1. Study  and  Clarify  the  Problem  
2. Generate  Potential  Solutions  
3. Identify  Most  Promising  Solution  
4. Develop  and  Test  Solution  
5. Implement  Solution  
*iteration  may  happen  at  any  stage*  
 Stage 1: Study and Clarify the Problem

 
• costs  in  the  beginning  stages  is  cheap  but  can  determine  future  spending  
• note  other  design  models,  and  evaluate  their  strengths  and  weaknesses  
 
 
• Main  Steps  in  Stage  1:  
o Identify  the  Stakeholders  
§ the  stakeholders  are  the  people  who  can  influence  or  be  
influenced  by  the  project  
o Identify  the  Needs  
§ statements  from  the  stakeholders  on  what  the  project  needs  to  
be,  how  it  performs,  and  what  it  embodies  
• stakeholders:  people  can  influence  and  be  influenced  by  the  project  
• needs:  expresses  stakeholder  interest  and  wishes  and  uses  the  language  of  
the  stakeholders  
o can  be  qualitative,  subjective,  and  vague  
§ difficult  to  measure  or  test  
o different  stakeholders  have  different  needs  
o not  all  stakeholders  needs  agree/may  overlap  
o  
• Target  Design  Specifications  
o developed  from  the  needs  
o a  precise  definition  of  what  the  final  design  is  or  does  
o quantifiable  and  testable  
o two  types:  requirements  and  objectives  
§ requirements:  “must  haves”,  determines  immediate  pass  or  
fail,  the  limits  of  acceptability  for  a  design  
§ objective:  separates  the  “good”  from  the  “okay”,  determines  
level  of  performance  and/or  stakeholder  satisfaction  
• Validation  
o does  the  design  capture  stakeholder  needs  
o is  it  the  correct  solution?  
 • Verification    
o does  the  design  meet  the  specifications    
o is  it  the  solution  build  correctly?  
 
Stage  2:  Generate  Potential  Solutions  
 
• Guidelines  for  Generating  Solutions  
o quantity  not  quality  
o do  not  evaluate  ideas  
o avoid  fixation  
o get  creative  
o generate  a  much  of  a  variety  as  possible  
• C-­‐‑sketch  (Collaborative  Sketch)    
o Everyone  starts  with  one  paper  
o No  talking  
o No  writing  words  
o Usually  3  minutes  per  round  
o Adding  or  modify  sketch  received  
 
Stage  3:  Identifying  the  Most  Promising  Solution  
 
 

 
 
• Goal:  narrow  down  all  possible  solutions  to  our  design  problem  and  identify  
the  solution  to  be  developed  
  
• Stages  in  narrowing  down  ideas:  
o Screening  
o Ranking  
o Scoring  
o Selection  
 
• Screening  
o take  out  all  ideas  that  don’t  meet  requirements  
o prior  to  elimination  
§ modify  it    
§ combine  it  with  another  idea  
§ look  for  positive  features  you  can  extract  
§ confirm  the  requirements  are  valid  
• Ranking  
o Individual  Voting  
§ everyone  has  a  good  understanding  of  the  problem,  objectives,  
and  the  concepts  
§ everyone  gets  a  set  amount  of  votes,  and  vote  for  their  options  
(can  allocate  more  than  one  vote  for  each  options  if  the  team  
wishes)  
o don’t  bring  too  many  ideas  through  
§ wastes  too  much  time  and  resources  to  analyze  ideas  
• Scoring  
o Quantify  relative  performance  of  each  idea  
• ALWAYS  JUSTIFY  YOUR  DECISIONS  
 
 
Stage  4:  Develop  and  Test  Solution  
 
• Prototypes  
o Different  types  used  at  different  times  
§ 2-­‐‑D:  used  to  study  mechanical  motion  and  layout  of  parts  
§ 3-­‐‑D  (foam,  etc.):  study  form  and  assembly,  estimate  volume  of  
parts  
 § 3-­‐‑D  functioning:  study  usability  and  working  stresses  
§ Specific  parts  may  be  broken  down  and  prototyped  in  many  
different  ways  
§ CAD:  drawing  specific/additional  parts  and  engineering  issues  
can  be  identified  
 
 
Module  2:  Decision  Making  
 
 
 
 

 
 
• Scales  
o bring  different  perspectives  and  stakeholders  
§ this  allows  for  best  decision  to  be  decided  
o one  solution  may  work  in  one  scale  but  not  another  
o can  be  geographic,  time,  etc.  
•  
• Engineer’s  Role  in  Decision  Making  
o Inform  Decision  Makers  
§ provide  fair  and  just  evaluation  of  technical  information  
relevant  to  the  decision  
§ decisions  are  based  on  uncertainty  
o Advocacy  
§ for  decision  making  process  
o Integrity  
§ challenge  each  other  and  themselves  
§ behave  in  an  ethical  and  professional  manner  
• recognize  impact  of  your  personal  values  
• WDM  (Weighted  Decision  Matrix)  
o Each  criteria  is  weighted    
§ weight  can  be  determined  by  stakeholders  needs  and  priorities  
§ sum  of  weights  must  add  up  to  100%  
o Gives  a  score  on  a  basic  scale  
o Weighted  scores  adds  up  to  10  
o If  weights  are  adjusted  and  the  ranks  are  similar,  this  means  the  
decision  is  robust  
• Case  Study:  
o In  20  years:  40%  electricity  increase  for  BC  needed  
o Supply-­‐‑demand  gap  will  occur  in  10  years  

 
• Energy    
o Coal  is  about  25GWh/train  
• Three  types  of  energy:  Hydro,  Wind,  Coal  
o Things  to  keep  in  mind:  physical  principles  through  which  it  generates  
power,  where  does  the  energy  originate  from,  how  does  the  energy  
change  forms  through  the  system  before  becoming  electricity    
• Hydroelectricity  Dam  
o Using  potential  energy,  water  flows  down  a  sloping  pipe  (penstock)  
o Water  rushes  into  the  turbine,  causes  runner  to  turn  
o Runner  rotates  a  shaft  that  turns  the  electrical  generator  
§ potential  energy  is  transformed  into  electrical  energy  
o Energy  passes  through  step  up  transforming  and  is  sent  off  
• Wind  Farms  
o One  turbine  usually  needs  ½  acre  of  land,  40  acres  of  wind  space  
o Need  to  be  located  near  power  lines,  places  with  good  wind  
o Turbines  is  high  above  the  ground  
o Rotor  blades  turns  the  low  speed  shaft  
o Gear  box  changes  the  shaft  speed  and  turns  a  high  speed  shaft  
o High  speed  shaft  turns  electric  generator  
§ converts  mechanical  energy  to  electrical  energy  
o Electrical  power  is  then  sent  down  the  turbine  and  to  step  up  
transformer  
• Coal  Fueled  Power  Plant    
o Coal  is  pulverized  into  fine  dust  
o Burners  burn  the  coal  to  create  max  heat    
 o Heat  turns  water  into  steam  
o Steam  passes  through  4  turbines  
§ Passes  through  first  a  high  pressure  turbine  then  returned  to  
boiler  to  be  reheated  
§ Then  piped  to  intermediate  pressure  turbine  
§ Then  two  low  pressure  turbines  
o Steam  turns  blades  which  are  attached  to  a  shaft  which  turns  an  
electrical  generator  
§ electrical  energy  is  then  generated  and  passes  through  a  step  
up  transformer  
 

 
• Sustainability  
o Definition:  the  capacity  of  human  society  to  continue  indefinitely  
within  earth’s  natural  cycles  
o Three  dimensions:  Society,  Environment,  Economy  
§ Bearable:  Society  and  Environment  
§ Viable:  Environment  and  Economy  
§ Equitable:  Society  and  Economy  
§ Sustainable:  All  three  
• Four  Principles  of  Sustainability  
o Avoid  removing  materials  from  the  earth  at  a  rate  faster  than  they  
naturally  replenish  
o Avoid  making  things  and  releasing  substances  at  a  rater  faster  than  
they  naturally  break  down  
o Avoid  degrading  ecosystems  at  a  rate  faster  than  they  can  naturally  
regrow  
o Move  towards  happiness,  well-­‐‑being,  and  meeting  the  needs  of  all  
people