Weeks

1-2
What was done?
1. As a group consisting of 4 members, we highlighted the five different parts in Dr. Queen’s syllabus
that were all included in different syllabi and identified the five various components not included in all
syllabi.
2. We were assigned to watch two videos: an interview with Dr. Robert Lane, & Khanjan Mehta's
"Social Impact . . . takes a planet!" A discussion took place where we had to post a response saying
whether the videos affected us and made us think about the potential social impact of engineering. In
addition to that, I had to respond to at least three people in the discussion.

My reflection of the videos:

After watching the videos, I can say that they have immensely changed the way I looked at this
course. I did believe that writing is an important skill but not as much as I do now. Dr.Robert
mentioned that to get attention from above and reach places in this life, one must know the different
styles of communication depending on the person being communicated within the hierarchy.
Something that shocked me was when I heard that an engineer could spend 50% a day writing. I
thought it was no more than 10% a day. After watching Khanjan’s video and listening to what he had
said about us asking ourselves the wrong questions one of them being “What organization do I want
to work for?” I found that funny because that is the only question that I have in mind when thinking
about the future. I have never thought of the question as being a wrong question. He made me
question myself by the questions he asked. Who do I want to work with? What problem do I want to
solve? Whom would I have an impact on? I must find a platform that works for me, get out of my
comfort zone, and start building my own network.
3. We were assigned to make an introductory video introducing ourselves and saying how we chose to
become engineers. I wanted to be creative and not just take a boring video of me speaking, so I
decided to include pictures, animations, and a voiceover along with that. We had to look at each
other's videos in class, so I looked at Yaqoob's and Omar's videos. Yaqoob did two years at Carnegie
Mellon University doing computer science; then, he came to Texas A&M to resume his interest in
robotics. He is interested in doing research and wants to continue his higher studies. Something he
likes to do is calligraphy as he is interested in art. I learned that Omar is studying mechanical
engineering from watching Omar's video. He was interested in how engineers use physical and
mathematical principles and apply them to their real-life applications. He also liked the idea of Texas
having a small community as it will give him the chance to get to know his professors and get to know
people with him.

Week 3
What was done?
1. We were assigned to read and annotate chapter 14, pages 373-397, on Perusal. The main
objective of this reading was understanding how to write correspondence. The five main
things to learn were:
• using the appropriate level of formality
• communicating correctly
• projecting the 'you attitude.'
• avoiding correspondence cliches
• speaking honestly
Also, I looked at the different letter formats of different types of letters, including inquiry letters,
response letters, and claim letters. How to write and organize a memo, write an email for
correspondence, and write microblogs. I also learned a new thing called Netiquette, the etiquette of
writing emails on a network and writing to multicultural readers. This is essential as one
communication technique done by a country can be deemed disrespectful to another.

2. I had to compose an Email to Dr. Queen, imagining that it was May 1st and my final grade was a 'D.'
I had to follow the guidelines for a claim letter on page 383. This is what my email looked like and
what I included in it:

We were put into breakout rooms in a team consisting of three members and read each other's email
complaints in class. I was in a group with Rackan and Yaqoob, and we used the time to compare the
three emails written and compare the style, the subject included, and the length. We also concluded
that Yaqoob's email was the best email complaint as it was the most convincing one.
3. Chapter 1, “Planning your collaboration,” and Chapter 2, “Project Management,” were reviewed
and annotated on perusal. Different collaboration methods were looked into, including face-to-face,
divided layers. The most advanced but better way is layered. The advantages and throwbacks of each
technique were looked into. The importance of a task manager was noted and how a task manager is
not a leader nor a boss. The task manager has an avital role in keeping a team on the right track and
having plans ready in case someone falls behind. The task manager is responsible for the task
schedule, meeting minutes, progress reports, project plan, team charter, progress report, and straw
document. A new thing learned was the straw document which is a base document used in the initial
stages; it is based on hypothesis and can be changed and can be changed.

Also, five different team videos were looked at, and notes were made on each video.

4. In class, we were put into teams. My teammates were Hilal and Humaira; we had to look at video
five and analyze the collaboration skills of the team members and note down their roles, the problems
occurring between them, and how these problems could be solved.
This was what we concluded:

1) The collaboration used by Team 5 was Face-to-Face and Divided. Since Joe had undertook creating a
website and Megan and Jayme were focused on research.

2) Jayme was the project manager whereas Joe was acting as the leader. Megan was just a team
member who did most of the research.

3) Jayme made the most contribution to the discussion since she suggested what could be improved
on the website and changed in the literature by Megan. Joe contributed the least since he only
focused on his technical sides and did not take into consideration the advise by Jayme and Megan on
the layout.

4) - Joe would have not have an idea on Megan and Jayme's part.

- Project can collapse or fail due to small internal conflicts.

- Joe's tone sounded demanding that he won't accept any help form Jayme and Megan.

- Megan was neutral and did not take a side with any team member and give her thoughts.

5) - They should be open to taking opinions of each other and use the Layered approach.

- The team members could have voted for the idea or suggestion they liked the most

- Have a project manager, inform manager after warning him

- They should understand there's nothing such as leader

- They need to give feedback to each other and understand that all of the parts of the project is
important

Team 5 - Humaira, Fatima Ahen and Hilal

5. I finished writing a memo with my team members Iman, Khalifa, and Tarik. We have decided to use
the layered method when working on this project. We are used to the divided method, so this was a
great new experience. After finishing writing the memo as a team, I can say that I loved the layered
approach compared to other collaborative methods. It was easy to include all we had in mind and
have a straw document before editing it in detail and getting each other's opinions along. To do this,
we used a shared google drive document and created a WhatsApp group to make it easier to
communicate.

Week 4
What was done?
2. We were assigned to read and annotate chapters 3 and 4 on Perusall. The main objective of
this reading was understanding the role of the team charter, team preparation worksheet,
team charter, task schedule, and Gantt charts. Each one of these were looked into detail and
the different parts were understood. Also, I understood how to apply them with my team
members. I also learned about the different ways of solving impasses in a team which
include:
• Consensus: where the group discuss with each other and try to solve the problem
together until everyone is in good terms.
• Majority rules: this is where voting takes place and the majority decision is adopted.
 • Instructor decides: this is where both sides are represented to the professor
anonymously and the professor makes up the decision.
• Third party decides: present the two sides to a classmate anonymously and let that
person decide.

Another important thing is the different methods used to respond to a team member that has
presented incomplete work. These methods include:
• The project manager would not make a big deal out of it and would ask another
team member to rewrite a specific section without calling out the person or
confronting him directly.
• The project manager can give a deadline for the student to revise on his work in
order to improve it.
• If the team members agree that the work doesn’t meet the criterial, the project
manager can be contacted and then the project manager reaches with that person
and will give a deadline to improve the work. The importance here is not mentioning
the names of any team members in front of the person to refrain creating any
problems.

Team charter is very important as it keeps the team members on the same page knowing how much
effort each individual is willing to put and identify if there are negative contributors. Task schedule is a
sheet where the task, starting and ending date, and the progress of each task is monitored. This is very
important to keep the team on track and ensure that the team are doing what they are required to do.

3. I read and annotated the Qatar National Vision of 2030 focusing on the different kinds of
sustainability problems discussed and identify the different problems that might potentially
arise.
4. In class, on Monday, we looked at each other’s group memos (Writing a group memo
informing new employees about different collaborative methods) and identified what were
the distinguishable parts in the team’s memo and what were the parts that were found in any
memo. I did notice that memos have heading, use bullet point when listing things, number
things if they are in chronological order, and use subheading when explaining different parts
to someone. These are all different ways to make it easier for the reader to read.
We read the memo of team 2 and these were the following points that we noticed about
their memo compared to our memo:
• Included disadvantages and disadvantages of the different collaborative methods.
• A paragraph speaking about the collaboration methods and a separate paragraph
about the importance of the project manager and the different tasks of a project
manager.
• It was detailed and was more of an explanation than a memo.
• They went over a page.
• Bulky paragraphs

The outcome of the class was that I learned that conciseness is important when writing a memo just
get to the point there is no need to write everything in detail. Also, the level of formality used in a
memo depends on the institution or organization. A typography is used when using subheadings in a
memo. Because it is a memo, the word Memorandum should be written in the beginning of the page.

5. On Wednesday we had a CTL workshop where we did different activities to strengthen and
build our team cooperation skills. I missed out the first activity where they had to cut out
paper while having their eyes shut as I came in 10 minutes late. However, my team and I used
 a marker that had 4 attachments to it and cooperated to write the words team success on a
piece of paper. Funny enough, at the beginning we were only three and we managed to write
the word team on the paper with no problem. When the 4th team member cam we found it a
little bit challenging to wrote as the marker started swinging and each one was pulling on the
black attachment with different forces. Regardless of this challenge we were able to do it and
we were surprised to figure out we were the first team to finish this activity. The second
activity was about creating a meal for a family by using the different times provided for the
preparation of each meal. Without a Gantt chart that was difficult to do and we ended up
with 49 minutes for this activity. I also discovered that as team members we are all bad at
cooking.
6. On Friday my group and I entered zoom and we worked on the task schedule and team
charter. The team charter was easy to do and we were working together and adding the
different parts. The group also concluded that I become the team manager. What was nice is
that while doing it we kept disagreeing and agreeing on many several things which created a
chance for us to discuss and evaluate all the possible outcomes of our opinions before
agreeing all on a specific point. I also uploaded the team charter on google doc before
submitting in case anyone wants to edit it or add anything else. When we worked on the task
schedule, we noticed that this was a challenge as we had to write down start and end dates
for each task and because our schedules are different, we had a problem agreeing on the
times we have to meet for the group tasks and so I asked each team member to send his/her
schedule and saw the timings where we were all free. I sent them the different possible
timings that we can meet and we all agreed on a timing and date thar suited all of us. I
created a brief meeting minute for this first meeting where I briefly stated what was done
and what was needed to be done and sent it as a message on WhatsApp.
Week 5
What was done?
1. On Monday, the professor explained to us the different platforms that we can use in our
problems to share our sustainability problems in Qatar. My team and I chose the platforms
google do and google jam board and the different ideation strategies used were brain
storming and alter ego. Tarik and I started on it in class and Monday and then informed the
team so we all worked on it. A discussion post expressing our opinions about the different
ideation strategies and platforms used was worked on as a team.

The team discussion:

The two different ideation methods that we used as a team were Ego Alter and brainstorming. We
used two collaborative platforms, google jam board and google docs, on a shared google drive.
The strategy that worked the best for our team was brainstorming. That is because it was easy
for each person to bring to light whatever was on their minds regarding Qatar's various
sustainability problems. Categorizing the numerous issues made it more accessible. It helped the
team organize the ideas. Also, both platforms were good to use as the team members could add
to it whenever they were free, whether when they were outside using their phone or at home. In
addition, when another group member has made a change, other members are notified. Hence,
no one is missing out. Not only that but also, there's a chat section, which is easier and faster, as
we get to comment on each other's work without going to another platform to discuss.

Furthermore, there was no limitation to what we could and couldn't count, which allowed for
flexibility. The challenging part was refraining from looking into general problems. Ego alters a
new ideation strategy that our team tried. It was pretty entertaining and pushed our creative
boundaries. We had to indicate a problem in Qatar and solve that problem based on what a
specific superhero would do. So it was interesting to read each other’s problems and solutions.
A screenshot of the Google Jam board ideation strategy:

Ego Alter ideation strategy:

Fatima:

One of the problems in Qatar is that many roads were built without a proper drainage system.
The effects of not having a drainage system are seen in the tunnel where water is flooded during
rainy days. Although it does not rain all year round and rainy seasons are usually from December
to March, not having a drainage system in tunnels has caused some problems. One of these
problems is where the rain floods in tunnels, which leads to accidents, cars breaking down, and
people getting delayed if there is an emergency.

If I were a superhero like Dr.Strange, I would manipulate time by reducing the time needed to
build a drainage system as it can take from a year up to five years, depending on the project.
Another thing that I would do is summon the different equipment and parts required to build a
successful drainage system in a blink of an eye, thus reducing the fuel emissions of the card
during transportation.

Tunnels should be built to consider the drainage system, support, ventilation, and lighting, or
else that tunnel would be regarded as a temporary tunnel.
Iman:

The issue of food wastage has become more and more prevalent in Qatar, especially since the
rapid growth of its domestic food industry. The food disposed of in landfills as waste poses
many environmental, societal, and economic issues. For example, the decomposition of this
waste leads to the production of harmful gasses such as methane and carbon dioxide; these
gasses then accumulate in the atmosphere contributing to climate change and global warming.
Food wastage also furthers the already existing global issue of food insecurity.

This can be dealt with by developing innovative and sustainable technological solutions for food
recycling or improving storage, processing, and distribution processes. And since Stark was a
technological genius, I’d be Iron man.
Another possible solution could be to predict demand to avoid overproduction accurately.

Tarik:

One of the leading environmental issues in Qatar is the amount of plastic waste being thrown out
on the streets, which then either ends up in a corner or a cleaner spending hours picking the
trash up and putting it away. This is problematic because plastic doesn’t rot like paper or food,
instead it can hang around in the environment for hundreds of years, damaging the nature and
the animals. On bigger streets, cleaners usually clean the road every morning but in less
populated areas, there sometimes is no cleaning happening at all.
Spider-man could help solve this issue, by preventing people from throwing their plastic waste
away in the first place. He would jump around buildings until he spots either a person on the
walkway trying to throw a bag away or someone in the car rolling their windows down. Very
often, when someone rolls their windows down it is to throw the trash from the consumed food
away. Spider-man would then shoot his webs at the persons hand and shake it, not to harm the
person but to scare him/her. If he’s successful the person would get frightened and decide to
actually dispose their plastic waste in a trash can.

Khalifa:

To help prevent harm to sea creatures due to plastic being thrown away in the sea, Raven (from
the titans) can use her powers of telekinesis to gather all the plastic/ waste from the ocean and
put them in space and reduce the harm to sea creatures. She could use her powers to also help
redirect the emission that comes from the surplus amount of factories in Qatar outside of our
atmosphere, which in turn would help prevent the pollution in the air or at the very least reduce
it. Her powers can be used to get rid of more than just plastic waste, for example help stop the
use of landfills by transporting trash away which would decrease the pollution in the air.

We also wrote a problem memo to the professor telling her the 3 potential problem strategies that we
thought of and we also created a decision matrix to compare the 3 different problems and see which
one would be more beneficial to the society and would have advantages that outweighs its
disadvantages. We did struggle to narrow the list down to three problems as we kept on finding out
even new problems along the way. The decision matrix helped us out a lot as we were able to
compare the different problems and identify which problem was the most important.

In class we looked at the five main challenges that Qatar will potentially face from the 2030 vision:

1. Modernization and preservation of traditions

2. The needs of this generation and the needs of future generations
3. Managed growth and uncontrolled expansion
4. The size and the quality of the expatriate labor force and the selected path of development
5. Economic growth, social development and environmental management.
Week 6
What was done?
1. On Friday 11th, my team and I had a meeting on zoom. We agreed on the Problem we will be
working on, Food Wastage in the Student Center. We split up the different parts of the problem
statement amongst ourselves. We agreed that Tarik would do the Problem and purpose, Iman would
do the Previous and new solutions, I would do the user needs and design constraints, and because
Khalifa didn’t attend the meeting, he was left with the scope ad objectives. Because the submission
was on Sunday, I gave out a soft deadline at 11:59 pm on Saturday, so I do not have to wait for
everyone to post their past an hour or two before the deadline and to have enough time to edit out
each other’s parts.
2. Along with submitting the first draft of the team problem statement, I had to fill in the team
evaluation questionnaire uploaded on canvas. After filling out the questionnaire, I understood exactly
who was doing what. The feedback that I received from the professor showed that just because I am
the team manager doesn’t mean that I have to chase behind everyone and burn myself out. I have to
set clear early deadlines that the team members must stick to. This is what made me speak to my
teammates on zoom and explain how important it is that they adhere to deadlines and how I am being
impacted negatively by the late submissions of work.

-Before Monday’s we were assigned to read Chapter 5: “Constructive Conflict & Chapter 6: “Revising
with others” from the book. Chapters 5 and 6 spoke about constructive conflict and computing
solutions to a problem. Constructive conflict is when team members get into a healthy and respectful
debate of ideas.

For a Successful constructive conflict:

• Evidence needed to support your idea
• Listen to other viewpoints and not just hear what they say
• Consider the advantages and disadvantages of every idea presented
• Work towards a solution together by building and improving all ideas

The five key strategies to create constructive conflict infrastructure for the team:
• Roles clearly identified in the task schedule
• Allow time in the task schedule for revision
• Lay ground rules for conversation
• Create a team charter or team contract
• Decide in advance methods of dealing with conflicts

The four steps to develop a culture in which constructive feedback is encouraged:

• Include revision and feedback in the task schedule
• Decide on a revision process and follow it (feedback or direct revision)
• Use a writing software that records editing history such as google doc
• Include a statement about the importance of revision and feedback in the team charter
3. On Monday in class, we spoke about the problem statement in class. These are the things learned in
class:

• The problem statement should be specific and the problem should be narrowed down.
• We can use phrases such as “companies have to” implement an idea.
• look at the different fertilizer prices in Qatar and compare the price of the fertilizers
produced to the market prices, and see what the fertilizers would provide to Qatar
• consider the users- Who would the bin fertilizers be applicable to? Who are we targeting?
• User needs is everything when designing a solution.
• Good sources should be used during research including Journals which are better than
books, articles and stay away from online websites that are not reliable.
• Journals are better than books as books are outdated and it takes time to get the book
published compared to journals that do not really take time.

4. On Wednesday I was not able to attend class and so I reached out to my classmate Fatima Hakeem
to update me on everything I missed that day. The students were put into three groups were two of
the groups wrote down notes about chapter 5 and one group noted down notes on chapter 6.
The professor also told them to use the TAMU library instead of the TAMUQ library and I did not know
there was a difference between them until now I thought they both provided the same information.
The professor also taught them a method to evaluate whether the source used for the project is
reliable or not. The method is ‘CRAPP’ which stands for currency, reliability, authority and purpose.

Also, on Wednesday from 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm the team members and I had a meeting with the
professor. The outcome of the meeting:
• Include a lot of research regarding the problem of the project. When writing start speaking
about general problems then narrow it down to problems In Qatar. For the User needs and
constraints narrow it down then speak about the general problem again. Follow the
hourglass method.
• Pictures can be included as research evidence; however, writing should be included and not
just a plain picture without any context.
• Create table, graphs charts to show the information. Even if none can be found create one
based on the statistics and data gathered.
• Reach out to Fathima Hakeem’s group and ask about the sources used as their sources are
very good and can be helpful to us too since we are working on the same problem.
5. On Thursday, I had to submit the team charter and task schedule. I have communicated with my
teammates on Wednesday, telling them to add to it and edit, but I have received no response. I edited
70% of the team charter and task schedule, waiting for them to edit out their parts. On Thursday, I
texted them a reminder in the afternoon, and up to 10:00 PM, I did not receive any response. So I had
to fix everything by myself before the deadline, which caused me to have a breakdown because I'm
not particularly eager to do any work before the deadline by 2/3 hours as it triggers my anxiety and
leads to me having a panic attack.
I also started using the tamu library for the team problem statement as my research source. This is the
second time I have used it, and it is beneficial. I did not think that I would find any research regarding
food wastage in the student center, but to my surprise, I found one, and I was very excited about it.

6. On Friday, I informed the team of the deadline at 4:00 pm on Saturday, but no one responded. The
lack of communication is making me very frustrated. I have done most of the research and added it to
the shared google drive. I can see who did what on google drive, but it shows that no edits have been
made since submitting the first draft of the problem statement.
Week 7
What was done?

1. On Monday, a new team member joined our team; Mohammed Al-Kharaz. We spoke about our
problem statements and where each team has reached in class. We also booked a meeting with
the instructor on Wednesday to get feedback on the second draft of the problem statement.
While the students chose the times to meet up with the instructor, my teammate and I worked
on the problem statement.

2. On Wednesday, we had a meeting with the professor. Iman, Mohammed, and I attended the
meeting. We got constructive feedback to improve our final draft before submitting it.

These were the outcomes of the meeting:

• For the reference page, make sure that they are listed alphabetically by the author’s last
name.
• Include in-text citation
• In the user needs and design constraints, which is my part, I should focus on the problem
rather than turning towards the solution, and the users identified were the
students/consumers and the restaurant chains workers.
• There is no need to use wordy sentences; for example, we can say food waste rather than
saying food wastage.
• For the graphs and table, be clear about what we are representing. There is no need to write
“the table shows” to get straight to the point.
• We have to develop a new solution to change an existing solution and modify it vastly.

3. We were assigned to read Chapter 7: Communication Styles and Team diversity. The three basic
lessons learned were:

1. Understanding norms and what might seem normal to me can see unnormal to
someone else.
2. Just because someone has different norms than mine doesn’t make that person rude or
mean they just have different ideas about what is appropriate behavior.
3. When working in a group it is best to change your norms to adjust with the group and
do what serves best for the group.
Some communication norms and their pros and cons
Area Norm Definition
Discussion Competitive Conversation is a miniature
style battle over ideas. Speakers
tend to be passionate in
supporting their ideas, and
interruptions are frequent.
Highly Speakers acknowledge and
considerate support one another’s
contributions, and
disagreements are often
indirect. Interruptions are
rare, and the conversation
often pauses to allow new
people to speak.
Presentation Self- Speakers aggressively
style promotional display their own
confidence and expertise,
often criticizing others to
make themselves look
better.
Self- Speakers display their
deprecating modesty and talk about
their own shortcomings.
Pros and Cons
Those who hold this norm like the fast-
paced conversation and the challenge of
publicly defending ideas in the face of
competition. However, those who don’t
share this norm perceive it as rude and
disrespectful. Moreover, this norm works
against constructive conflict because
speakers are more concerned with
defending their own ideas than with
carefully listening to their teammates.
Often, the most aggressive speaker
rather than the best idea wins out.
Those who hold this norm like the polite
tone, concern for others, and equitable
conversations that it fosters. However,
those who don’t share it find these
conversations slow-moving and
frustrating and sometimes think that
highly considerate speakers have nothing
important to say. Moreover, this norm
sometimes privileges feelings and
emotions over constructive criticism of
ideas.
This norm sometimes benefits people
who may expect special treatment for
their expertise but is generally harmful to
the group dynamics. Self-promotional
speakers tend to see asking for help as a
weakness and to see criticism as a direct
attack on themselves.
Even though people (especially men)
who engage in humorous self-
deprecation may be perceived as likable
and easy to get along with, this norm can
make group members distrust the
speaker’s ability to do competent work.
Sometimes, self-deprecating speakers
are perceived as trying to get out of
work.
Problem- Action- People immediately jump This style is very effective for getting
solving style oriented into the details of a things done quickly, but sometimes
problem and start working groups waste time by working on
on a solution right away. solutions before they fully understand
the problem.

Holistic People consider the entire
problem as a whole and
refrain from proposing
solutions until the problem
is completely understood.
This style generally helps groups propose
better solutions because it ensures that
they are solving the correct problem.
However, the holistic problem-solving
style requires more time. Moreover,
action-oriented problem solvers
sometimes find this style frustrating to
work with.

I also learned that there is a difference between competitive and conversational norms. Competitive
norm is when the person speaking constantly interrupts the other person and seem that they care
more about saying their point than listening to what the others want to say.
Considerate conversations are filled with back-channeling where team members listen to each other
say “yeah” or “uh-huh” and actually show interest and that they are engaged in the conversation.

The methods that a competitive speaker can adopt a more considerate style are:
• Restating ideas before disagreeing with them.
• Repair interruptions
• Check in with quiet speakers
• Pay attention to body language
• Engage in uncritical brainstorming

The ways that a considerate speaker can adjust to competitive conversations:

• Learn how to prevent or forestall interruptions
• Speak within the first five minutes of the meeting
• Find gentle ways to interrupt

Ways a team can balance different problem solving tyles:

• Holistic problem solving at the start of the project- where the problem is considered as a
whole and a solution is not found until the problem is full understood.
• Being patient and strategic
• Refer to the team charter and ask schedule to resolve conflicts.

The part about gender and communication norms was interesting; it says that men usually take up
more space than women, who take less room by keeping their arms closer to their bodies during
meetings. The fact that there are some things that women can do that can be perceived as “manly” is
funny. Growing up in middle eastern society, I was always told to “sit properly” when sitting, put my
legs on top of each other, don’t speak loudly because all of these actions are perceived as “manly” and
unflattering. Although I am firmly against this, people will still think that it is valid and normal to feel
this way and throw judgmental words on women. It is not just women that are affected by this, even
men. If a man acts a certain way, he is immediately seen as being “feminine” and not manly enough.

4. On Friday, I met up with my teammates on zoom, and it was stated clearly what needs to be
done, and I gave a deadline to follow so we can have time to edit out each other’s parts.I also
used the advice from chapter 7 on how to solve problems one of them being ineffective
communication and it was hard as poor communication was also done during the zoom
meeting.

5. On Saturday, I booked a session with Janessa in the CTL to have a look at the problem statement
and give me feedback. I wanted the teammates to include their parts before I took the problem
statement to the CTL, and I have told them that, but no one stuck to what I said except
Mohammed and Iman.

This was my output on the user needs and design constraint part in the team report:
Project 1 reflection:

This was an exciting project to be working on. When working on the problem
statement, I misunderstood the part I was working on as my focus was the solution,
but misunderstandings were cleared with the help of the instructor. The research
part was quite fun, and finding research-based in the student center, our primary
focus, was shocking for me. I don’t know why I felt that the food wastage problem
isn’t focused on in Qatar, and before starting my research, I thought I would not find
any research about food wastage in Qatar. Like any other group, there were
misunderstandings and problems; however, returning to the book and reading the
different ways problems and misunderstandings should be handled cleared some
misconceptions. Also, the task charter was of great help as there were actions that
needed to be followed if there was incomplete work or any problem among the team
members. Although more teamwork collaboration is necessary, I will ensure that
face-to-face meetings will be held to address any issue when working on project two.
Week 8
What was done?
1. In this week both Monday and Wednesday’s classes were used for the teams to
present project 2. It was interesting the to see the innovation of each time one
the problem they have chosen.
Reflection on project 2: Despite the short period of time that we had to have the
presentation ready, I can say I was very happy with the way the presentation
turned out. The questions and feedback received from my peer students were
very helpful. Questions like how big will the trash can be, the maintenance cost,
how many times will the trash be emptied, what chemicals will be used to break
down the food waste/ these were all very good questions. Project 2 also
enhanced my PowerPoint editing skills as this was the first time that I used Prezi.
I am usually used to using Microsoft PowerPoint but Prezi was way easier and
smoother and had lots of tools to enhance the presentation.
Week 9
What was done?
1. Class time on Wednesday was used to work on project 3 with my team. Only
Mohammed attended and so we started sketching out the prototype of our
project 3. We stumbled upon several issues every time we thought that we
had figured out something a new problem arises when sketching the
prototype. We thought of adding fans to the bin but the If that was
implemented, we would have to get rid of any plastic inside the bin. Now
that would lead to a problem of having to clean the bin multiple times if a
plastic bag was not used.
2. On Thursday, the team and I met in the student centre to continue working
on the prototype. The output of meeting in person was more efficient
compared to when meeting on zoom where there is not much
communication made and a couple of team members remain quiet. In
contrast, when meeting face-to-face each team member contributed to the
project and everyone was engaged and throwing ideas while working on the
prototype. We had a look at the bin in the blue area of Texas A&M and I am
pretty sure people were weirded out by us 5 standing around a bin and
basing our protype on it. Having an actual bin infront of us helped us imagine
the different parts on feet and know where to put what, the different
compartments we should have, and what type of sensors to use.
 Week
10
What was done?
1. On Monday, class time was used for each group to show their prototypes and
explain how their solution works. Fathima Hakeem’s team problem was food
waste and their solution was a bin that can sort food waste into different
categories backed up with an app that tracks how much food is wasted in
households. Najla’s team problem was the dust accumulating on the solar
panels and their solution was creating a rotating double-faced solar panel.
Yaqoob’s team created an actual prototype of connected tubes under the
sinks in the malls to. This was very helpful as our team was able to get
feedback from the students.
2. On Wednesday Miss Betsy from the CTL cam and helped us learn how to
create a scientific poster and some guidelines to stick to such as having 40%
of the page in the color white and not used up with texts and images, the
text on the poster should be large enough that people standing 1.5 to 2
metres away are able to read, the poster should be able to stand alone and
people just reading from it by themselves and should be able to get what the
problem and solution is. Another important thing is not using many colors
which is quite distracting and having your main idea or the point you want
the viewer to get a grasp of in the middle of the page. Having three columns
on your poster is one of the best ways of having your information laid out.

Project 3 reflection:

Although Project three was the longest project done, I was very satisfied with the final poster
design we made. Seeing where we started from and where we have reached definitely made
me feel proud of myself and my team. It was definitely not easy and we had to go through
many steps to choose the problem then additional steps to choose the solution but that was all
worth it. A cool thing was presenting the poster in the steam showcase which was something I
have never done before and I enjoyed explaining with Fathima Hakeem to the 5 people that
approached us our solution and answer their questions. A major thing I learned is always being
confident when answering questions even if I am not sure of the answer; reply but don’t lie.