Preliminary Design Proposal

Report
_____________________________________________________________________________________

ME185 / EE187 / BME 187 – Capstone I

Date Revision Release Notes

10/19/2019 03 Released for Fall 2019
10/30/2020 04 Released for Fall 2020
11/2/2021 05 Released for Fall 2021
11/15/2022 06 Released for Fall 2022 – significant changes to the structure of the
report.
11/17/2022 07 Updated with learning content
ME185/BME187/EE187 Capstone I
Preliminary Design Proposal Report

1 Objective
1. Communicate effectively through professional documentation. [ABET 3]
2. Apply fundamental engineering theory to design and analyze an engineered solution that meets
your client’s needs. [ABET 1, B3]

2 What
Create a report that communicates the state of your proposed design and makes recommendations for
future work. Update your Prior Art Review and submit a final draft. Follow the guidelines below to
ensure you meet all the deliverable requirements.

3 Why
Part of the engineering design process is to formally communicate in writing the status of the working
design concept, the methodology used in your design, analyses used to justify your design decisions, and
recommended actions required to be successful. You have had 3 Sprints to work on your design and
should have a reasonable idea of what your final product will look like and how it will function. The
purpose of this report is to convince the reader your proposed design will perform your client’s
primary functionality when completed at the end of the spring semester. This is done by describing
your product, providing evidence that supports your claims, and making recommendations for future
work to be successful.

4 How
4.1 Generate a Design Report
Generate a design report with the following sections. The report should be no more than 20 pages
excluding the cover page and Table of Contents.
4.1.1 Introduction
The introduction needs to make the reader receptive to your proposal, start to develop their
understanding of the problem, and focus their attention. The introduction should be one or two
paragraphs and answer the following questions: What is the purpose of the report? Why is the
background information relevant? What is going to come next in the report?
1) Introduce the purpose of the report which will drive the entire document. You need to tailor
the purpose stated in the introduction above to be specific to your project. This is the primary
point your reader needs to accept at the end of the report.
2) Give a brief background of the problem to be solved. Limit this to only a few sentences and
highlight the most important aspect of the problem. The background will help the reader form
base-level understanding quickly before they get into the details given later in the report.
3) Give a brief explanation of what will be covered in the report. Use the outline here as a
guideline for items that will be covered. Tailor them to fit your project as needed.
4.1.2 Problem Definition
The reader needs to understand the problem to be solved before they can make any judgment about
the effectiveness of your solution. This section answers the following questions: What problem is being

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solved? What is the scope of work? Who wants the problem solved and why? What are the most
important qualities of any solution?
1) Supply a brief explanation and background of the problem you are trying to solve. Explain your
client’s motivation for solving the problem and why is it important to them.
2) Identify any additional customers/stakeholders and how your solution might affect them.
3) Include the scope of any solution, such as operating conditions, environments, the context of
use, or other constraints that limit your design responsibility. Here is where you give some
boundaries for what you are agreeing to do with any solution you propose. This may change
over the course but should reflect your current intent and understanding.
4) Define the most important qualities of a solution needed to meet your customer’s needs i.e.,
your customer requirements. Present your requirements in an organized format that is easy to
read and conveys some level of priority/importance. It should be noted that these
requirements are defined as you know them today and they may change throughout the course.
4.1.3 Design Description
Now that the reader understands the problem and what is important in a solution, they can be
introduced to your proposed solution. The proposed solution should give the reader a basic
understanding of what the solution looks like and how it functions. This section answers the question:
How you will solve the problem?
1) Provide a top system-level overview description of your proposed design that gives the big-
picture perspective. Use pictures, solid models, block diagrams, schematics, board layouts, or
other relevant content that provides evidence of engineering design and supports your
overview.
2) Show the key elements/parts/features of your proposed design that perform critical functions.
Describe how they perform these key functions with support from annotated images, pictures,
test, or simulation results, etc. The intent is for the reader to understand how a function is
performed, not to provide evidence it works to any specific criteria.
3) The design process is not linear and often included alternate design concepts or failed attempts
at solving the problem. Provide some insight into alternative designs or design considerations
evaluated during the design process that guided you toward this solution. Explain one or two
options considered and why they do not show up in your proposed design.
4.1.4 Design Evaluation
This is your opportunity to convince the reader your design will work as intended. You have not had the
opportunity to do any rigorous testing, so we will rely on analyses to predict performance. Present one
key analysis per member of your team that provides some measure of confidence your design should
work. For each analysis:
1) Identify and explain an important design decision that required analysis.
2) Discuss the method of analysis and provide the required equations and illustrations to support
the analysis. Provide any assumptions made as part of the analysis. If you use computer
simulations, provide the basic formulas used in the simulation programs.
3) Present and interpret the results as they apply to your product.
4) Explain how the results have or will inform your design decisions.

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4.1.5 Recommendations
Your reader now understands how your proposed solution will meet your client’s needs. However, you
also know there is a significant amount of work still to be done. This is your opportunity to highlight key
tasks that need to be accomplished to improve your chances of success. This section should answer the
question: What needs to be done next to be successful?
1) Present a set of recommended actions for your team to be successful in delivering a functional
prototype to your client. (Limit to no more than 5)
2) Actions should be short and not be more than a few sentences. Significant justification for your
recommendations should appear elsewhere in your report.
3) Actions should be in the imperative voice unless you are uncertain of your recommendation.
4) Actions should mitigate the risk associated with the project and are often related to:
a) critical technology required for the success of your design.
b) known shortcomings of the existing proposed design.
c) a significant unknown or uncertainty in your proposed design.
d) availability, delivery, or budget constraints related to materials.
e) constraints in manufacturing methods or materials.
f) gaps in knowledge or skills to perform the required tasks.
5) Ensure the actions are prioritized in order of either Most to Least Importance or Short Term to
Long Term.
4.1.6 Executive Summary
This section is written last after you have written the entire report. However, it should appear first in
your report after the Table of Contents. The purpose of an executive summary is to summarize the key
information in your report, so it is easily accessible to a decision-maker. In this case, you are trying to
convince the instructor and your client you have a design that will meet your client’s needs and plan to
achieve success.
1) Provide a brief background of the problem to solve in a sentence or two.
2) Reiterate the purpose of the report identified in the Introduction.
3) Describe your proposed design in a sentence or two. Keep it high-level and short.
4) Indicate how your proposed design will be able to meet your client’s needs.
5) Make a general recommendation about how to proceed with your project. The
recommendation should be grounded in your recommended actions, but not the full list itself.
4.2 Prior Art Review
Attach an updated Prior Art Review report based on feedback from your Draft and Prior Art Review
Coaching Session. You are graded using the same rubric. If your grade is higher than your Draft grade it
will be replaced.

5 Resources
All resources can be found in the Class Material > Endo of Semester folder.
• There are three analysis examples from previous years. They are not perfect but include
comments about what could make them better.

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• There are two examples of Design Descriptions from previous years. The deliverable has
changed this year so the examples to not cover all required topics. They are intended see other
work from students and the instructor perspective when grading.

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6 Rubric
Minimal Requirements to be graded Completed Point
Reduction
Cover page with title, team number, team name and member names -3
Revision block with date, revision number and description of revision changes. -3
Table of contents with dynamic links to sections -3
Consistent heading styles with numbering -3
Page footer or header with page #, Project # and Deliverable Name -3
Dynamic links to figures, tables, etc. -3
Figures/charts labeled and numbered -3
External references cited in IEEE format. -3
All writing in 3rd person -3
Minimal spelling and grammar errors -3

Criterion (Expected Standard) Points / Points

Criterion Received
Exectutive Summary
1 - A brief background explains the problem to solve in a sentence or two. 5.0
2 - The purpose of the report identified in the Introduction is repeated.
3 - The proposed design is described clearly in a sentence or two. Keep it high-level
and short.
4 - Clear Indication of how your proposed design will be able to meet your client’s
needs.
5 - Summary of the most important recommendations needed to be successful with
your project.
6 - Executive summary is the first item after the Table of Contents and limited to one
paragraph.
Introduction
1 - The purpose of the report is easily understood and tailored for your project. 5.0
2 - The background given helps understand the problem you are trying to solve.
3 - A brief explanation of what will be covered matches the deliverable and is tailored
to your project.
Problem Definition
1 - The problem you are trying to solve is clearly explained. 10.0
2 - Your client’s motivation for solving the problem is clearly explained.
3 - Additional customers/stakeholders are identified and how your solution might
affect them.
4 - The scope of your solution is presented including items such as operating
conditions, environments, the context of use, or other constraints that limit your
design responsibility.
1 - Your customer's requirements are presented in an organized format that is easy to 10.0
read and conveys some level of priority/importance.
2 - Requirements include the quality of the primary required functionalities that drive
performance.
3 - Requirements consider some combination of 2 or more relevant human factors,
environmental concerns, cost, and/or safety applicable to the project.
4 - Requirements are high-level and include qualitative descriptors.

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Design Description
1 - A top system-level overview allows the reader to understand your proposed design 30.0
form and function.
2 - System-level overview is supported with annotated pictures, solid models, block
diagrams, schematics, board layouts, or other relevant content that provides evidence
of engineering design efforts.
3- Key elements/parts/features of your proposed design that perform critical functions
are clearly described and easy to understand.
4 - Annotated images, pictures, test or simulation results, or other relevant content
provided support the functional descriptions.
5 - Provide some insight into one or two alternative designs or design considerations
evaluated during the design process that guided you toward this solution.
7 - Explain why these alternative designs did not end up in your proposed design.
Design Evaluation
Analysis Team Member 1: 7.5
1 - Clear explanation of an important design decision that required analysis and why it
is important.
2 - A brief explanation of the approach used to complete the analysis.
3 - Important assumptions are identified and relevant.
4 - All units and necessary equations are shown and appropriate.
5 - Step the reader through the appropriate and correct analysis.
6 - Present your results and explain how they informed your design decision.
7 - Include illustrations that help explain how the analysis is being performed.
Analysis Team Member 2 7.5
Analysis Team Member 3 7.5
Analysis Team Member 4 7.5
Analysis Team Member 5
Recommendations
1 - Recommended actions outline a path to being successful in delivering a functional 10.0
prototype to your client.
2 - Actions should be short and not be more than a few sentences.
3 - Actions should be in the imperative voice unless you are uncertain of your
recommendation.
4 - Actions mitigate are focused on mitigation of the highest risk items associated with
the project.
5 - Actions are prioritized and identified in order of either Most to Least Importance or
Short Term to Long Term.
6 - Actions are limited to 5 or fewer.
Total Points Available 100.0

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