Preliminary Design Proposal

Presentation
_____________________________________________________________________________________

ME185 / EE187 / BME 187 – Capstone I

Date Revision Release Notes

10/29/2020 03 Released for Fall 2020
11/3/2020 04 Added link for Assertion Evidence Slides.
11/30/2020 05 Corrected footer and added a note to where client comments can
be loaded to receive extra credit.
10/29/2021 06 Released for 2021
11/15/2021 07 Updated with link to sign up for presentation.
11/19/2021 08 Updated presentation time to 20 min and several High-Risk Items
from two to one. Added note about High-Risk Examples
10/27/2022 09 Update for 2022 -significant structural changes.
ME185/BME187/EE187 Capstone I
Preliminary Design Proposal Presentation

1 Learning Objectives
1. Communicate effectively with your client and technical reviewers via oral presentations and
professional documentation. [ABET 3]
2. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of topics and accurately answer questions posed by the
audience. [ABET 3]

2 What
Create a presentation that covers the required topics and conveys a coherent message about your current
working design concept and project status. Practice giving the presentation as a team so you can confidently
talk through your presentation slides and answer questions. Submit your presentation and slide notes prior to
your presentation meeting time.

3 Why
Part of the engineering design process is formally communicating the status of the working design concept,
the methodology used to justify your design decisions, analyses that support your current design, proposals
for future work, and project-related details to your client and other customers through oral presentations. You
have had 3 Sprints to work on your design and should have a reasonable idea of what your final product will
look like. The purpose of the Preliminary Design Proposal Presentation is to convince the audience 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.
Equally important is to get feedback from experienced engineers, your client, and other stakeholders on how
your design is developing. It is important to gain some experience formally presenting this information in
front of an audience that can ask critical questions and has a stake in the outcome of your design.

4 How
4.1 Sign up to present.
a. Sign up via the following poll for a time to present. All presentations will be in-person. If
there are extenuating circumstances that make this challenging, please reach out immediately
to the instructor to plan an alternative presentation method.
1. https://xoyondo.com/su/1tTs8Sbz6MPyL8j
b. Immediately after your presentation, you will give your Increment Demonstration. If you can’t
bring your Increment to the Presentation Room, please plan on bringing the Instructor to the
Increment location if it is in Votey or Discovery. If it is further away, please contact the
Instructor to find an alternate time to demonstrate your increment.
c. Notify your client of the presentation time and offer an invitation to attend.
1. If they cannot attend, offer to present to them at an alternate time.
2. If you present to your client (either independently or as part of the class presentation)
AND you submit a list of their comments/actions from the presentation, you will
receive an extra 5% added to your presentation grade. Submit your comments, using

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ME185/BME187/EE187 Capstone I
Preliminary Design Proposal Presentation
the template, to the Preliminary Design Presentation – Client Comments milestone by
the due date.
d. Notify your mentor of the presentation time and offer an invitation to attend.
e. Show up and present and demonstrate your increment.
4.2 Create your presentation
Develop a 20-25-minute technical presentation that includes the following items. Tailor your presentation for
a technical audience and your client. Use a tool like PowerPoint to create a professional-looking presentation.
Use the slides to present the material using the Assertion-Evidence format as linked in the Resources section
below. Use the Notes section of the slides to capture the main talking points and add helpful information that
supports the slide content. Ensure the Notes sections are provided either as part of the presentation or as a
separate document.
4.2.1 Introduction
a) Introduce your Team, Client, and Mentor.
b) Give a brief background of your client and thank them for sponsoring the project.
c) State the purpose of the presentation.
d) Give some brief indication of what to expect during the presentation.
4.2.2 Define the Problem you are trying to solve.
a) Supply a brief explanation and background of the problem you are trying to solve. Include the scope
such as operating conditions, environments, the context of use, or other constraints that limit your
design responsibility.
b) Explain your client’s motivation for solving the problem. Why is it important to them that you solve
the problem?
c) Identify the primary customers/stakeholders and the most important qualities of a solution (limit to
no more than 5) needed to meet your customer’s needs i.e., your customer requirements. It should be
noted that these requirements are defined as you know them today and they may change throughout
the course.
4.2.3 Describe the design you are proposing to solve the problem.
a) Provide a top system-level overview 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 efforts.
b) Show the key elements/parts/features of your proposed design that perform critical functions. Show
how they perform these key functions by using simulations, videos, animations, pictures, etc. to
support your claims of functionality. Be sure to relate the functionality back to your client’s
requirements.
c) Provide some insight into alternative designs or design considerations evaluated during the design
process that guided you toward this solution.
4.2.4 Evaluate the Design by providing evidence that predicts or confirms performance.
a) Present key Analyses (minimum of 2) that provide evidence of why your design should or does work. A
key analysis is one that provides evidence that your design will perform and meet your customer’s
functional requirements. The analysis should be important and help you make an informed decision in
the design.
i) Identify and explain an important design decision that required analysis.

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Preliminary Design Proposal Presentation
ii) 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.
iii) Present and interpret the results as they apply to your product.
iv) Explain how the results have or will inform your design decisions.
4.2.5 Project Summary
a) Budget Summary
i) Present a summary of spending through the Fall semester.
ii) Present and estimation of spending for the remainder of the project.
iii) Identify any potential gaps in funding that may need to be addressed.
b) Project Management summary
i) Summarize and reflect on What Went Well and What Could Have Been Better in your Team’s
performance.
ii) Reflect on the recommended change identified in Sprint 2 and its impact on Sprint 3 performance
or efficiency.
iii) Summarize your client’s satisfaction with the increment and progress throughout the semester.
4.2.6 Recommend action.
a) 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)
b) Actions should be short and use the imperative voice.
c) Actions should mitigate the risk associated with the project and are often related to:
i) critical technology required for the success of your design.
ii) known shortcomings of the existing proposed design.
iii) a significant unknown or uncertainty in your proposed design.
iv) availability, delivery, or budget constraints.
v) manufacturing methods or material constraints.
vi) gaps in knowledge or skills to perform the required tasks.
d) Ensure the actions are prioritized in order of either Most to Least Importance or Short Term to Long
Term.
4.2.7 Demonstration of latest increment
Directly after your presentation, you will be asked to demonstrate your latest increment. The Demonstration
deliverable and rubric are in the Increment Demonstration milestone.
4.3 Practice
• Practice giving your presentation as a team with and without an audience.
• Be sure to know who is presenting on each slide and how to transition seamlessly.
• Use notecards to help keep you on message.
• Practice looking up and engaging with the audience.
4.4 Present
• Bring a computer with an HDMI port to present. Alternatively, you can use the instructor’s computer
to present the file uploaded to EduSourced.
• Come prepared and dressed appropriately for a professional meeting.
• Designate someone to take notes during the Q&A session.
• At the end of the presentation summarize any actions given.

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5 Resources
• Resources for presenting
o TECC Episode 57 – Five Tips for Drastically Improving Your Engineering Presentations
▪ You can watch the video online.
▪ You can download the podcast by searching for “The Engineering Career Coach”
podcast and find the episode 57.
o “Talk nerdy to me” - Ted Talk by Melissa Marshall
• Assertion-Evidence Talks website: “The assertion-evidence approach calls on you to build your talks on
messages, not topics. In this approach, you support those messages with visual evidence, not bulleted
lists.”
o Visit the website: https://www.assertion-evidence.com/ . There are several great videos
outlined how and why to use this method in your presentations.
o Example presentations by Individual Students.
o Example presentations by Teams.
o Templates for presentations with great tips on what makes excellent slides.
• Examples of presentation slides from previous teams with comments can be found in Class Material >
Presentations. Note these presentations are from previous years where the deliverable expectations
were different. Please follow this deliverable and rubric closely as it has changed.

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6 Rubric
Deductions Completed Point
Reduction

Presentation slides are attached to milestone prior to giving the presentation. -5

Presentation slides are attached to milestone prior to last day of class. -5

Criterion (Expected Standard) Points / Points

Criterion Received
Presentation Skills
Presenters are prepared for the presentation and guide the audience through the presentation. 5.0
1 - Presenters do not read the slides.
2 - Presenters are confident and knowledgeable about the material they are presenting.
3 - Presenters make eye contact with the audience.
4 - Transitions between presenters are seamless.
The presentation slide deck supports the presentation dialogue and does not distract attention 10.0
from the speaker.
1 - Presentation follow the Assertion-Evidence concept.
2 - The text on the slides is minimal and concise.
3 - Images/illustrations are relevant and support the slide message.
4 - Each slide is limited to one major idea.
5 - Notes section support the slides. (notes will be reviewed on the submitted presentation)
Presentation Content
Introduction: 5.0
1 - The Team, Client, and Mentor are introduced appropriately.
2 - The client's background is explained clearly.
3 - The purpose of the presentation is stated and clearly matches the deliverable intention.
4 - A brief explanation of what to expect in the presentation is given.
Define the problem: 10.0
1 - The problem to be solved is clearly explained.
2 - The solution is not included in the problem definition.
3 - You limit the scope of the problem by clearly identifying relevant limiting factors.
4 - Benefits to the customers are clearly explained and accurate.
5 - The most important qualities of any solution are clearly explained and are limited to no more
than 5.
Design Description 30.0
1 - System-level overview demonstrates an understanding of the problem being solved.
2 - The system-level design includes pictures, solid models, block diagrams, schematics, etc.
that show evidence of engineering design best practices.
3 - There is evidence that demonstrates how key functionality is performed using simulations,
videos, animations, pictures, etc.
4 - Functionality is related back to your clients needs in some way.
5 - The design description is presented in an easy-to-understand top-down approach.
6 - Evidence is provided across all necessary disciplines.
7 - At least one example of an alternative design or design feature is presented with a
convincing argument that justifies your design choice.

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Evaluate the Design: 12.5
Analysis 1
1 - Clear explanation of the design decision that required analysis.
2 - A brief explanation of the approach and a clear discussion of the methods used.
3 - Results are presented accurately and are easy to understand.
4 - Results are interpreted and related back to your design decisions.
5 - Ensure analysis is appropriate and done correctly.
6 - Necessary assumptions and equations are provided.
7 - Include illustrations that help explain how the analysis is being performed.
Analysis 2 (same as above) 12.5
Project Summary - Budget 5.0
1 - State the budget provided by your client.
2 - Summarize spending on the project to date.
3 - Estimate what you expect to spend through the end of the project in the Spring seemster and
identify any gaps in funding that may need to be addressed.
Project Summary - Project Management 5.0
1 - Clear summary of What Went Well with at least relevant one example.
2 - Clear summary of What Could Have Been Better with at least one relevant example.
3 - Recommended change from Sprint 2 clearly identified.
4 - Provide a clear and reflection on the impact of the above change on Sprint 3 performance or
efficiency.
5 - A summary of client Satisfaction levels with some examples of their feedback.
Recommend Action 5.0
1 - Recommended actions target the highest-risk items.
2 - Recommended actions target items such as critical technology, design shortcomings,
availability of parts, budget limitations, manufacturing constraints, or gaps in knowledge.
3 - Recommended actions presented in order of Most to Least Importance or Short Term to Long
Term.
4 - The team appears confident in their recommendations.
Total Points Available 100

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