Project Design and Formulation Essay Example

This project greatly relied on books for knowledge and information. During the research period, where I was supposed to come up with a project design, I greatly relied on project books for sources of ideas on the type of project I can improve on or an innovative idea I can adopt for my design project. Ranging from physics books to business books, they all played a major role in first of all, determining the different project ideas then secondly, providing information on viability of each project depending on various design parameters for example cost (Lewis, Chen and Schmidt, 2006).

Product design specifications for already done similar projects were also obtained in engineering books both online and in hard copy. The various design specifications and engineering standards were a guidance to the project I would choose and so the engineering books I interacted with in the library were a major source of such kind of information for the coming up with design projects and then choosing of the right project by analysing various design specifications for example safety, productivity, recyclability and availability of materials. To design a component in engineering, you will also be faced with the task of determining the right material in terms of cost, availability, strength and durability of the material, all these information was obtained from the books I read. Business books were useful in for example determining the cost benefit analysis of the project.

Internet

In the current modern world, internet provides the easiest and most affordable source of information. In the period of project development, the internet provided very useful insights in terms of idea generation and general guidance on the viability of the projects. Looking at for example, we are able to see various problems around the world that need engineering solutions. This alone is a source of idea generation because then I was able to think for myself with all the knowledge and engineering skills acquired in class what I can be able to do to fill the gap or rather simply offer a solution to a number of problems in society.

Because engineering is wide and some material might not be accessed in hard copy, certain web addresses proved to be very useful in presenting information about design specifications, material characteristics and cost for example (Amazon, 2017) provided information about prices of various commodities- bars, winches etc.

STEM covers the following areas of study:

• Technology
• Engineering and
• Technology

The STEM study is carried out using an applied approach (Science, 2017). The design sector in engineering is in a crisis currently due to shortage of manpower. Designing of such projects offers a great step towards promoting engineering project design. It does not stop here because even the younger generation and especially those persuading the engineering subject can be able to see what such projects are able to do in society and therefore get motivated even to do better.

STEM teaches computational form of thinking and is done a t a tender age. Such project ideas ( Can crusher and Lifting mechanism) definitely sets a path to be followed by the upcoming generation in terms of keeping the spirit of designing and solving problems in engineering is concerned.

Case studies

Case studies are based on research carried out on a specific topic. They are a description of all that occurred, results and analysis and reports on different topics. There are several case studies in the engineering study about behaviour of certain materials under certain conditions for example. These provided ideas for this project in terms of which material to use and in doing what specifically.

Case studies also act as a score card for this project. We were able to compare what other people had done in the same field then looked at what we could make better and also avoid redundancy. We were able to concentrate our efforts in solving specific problems too for example the idea for lifting and can crusher were generated based on some case studies of environmental degradation around work places and the problem of lifting objects in the workshops. The need to conserve the environment then arose, and hence the idea of formulating a can crusher in the long-run emerged.

Research through Experiments

Practical’s and experimental activity are unavoidable in engineering. Engineering involves creating solutions in the society. These solutions must be tested so that the programs are rolled out to the rest of the people. In the determination of the material to use for the different project for example, I had to carry out certain test and experiments on the materials to come up with a one material that could best perform without failure for example. Some of the experiments I had to carry out on this project material include for example weld test, load tests on the lift mechanism to determine the maximum load before failure, strength test on various bars to construct the lift mechanism just to mention a few. All these were sources of information on the project to be carried out. The final test of performance of the component was also very essential because it determines whether the component is ready for market or should be taken back into the workshop for finishing.

Type of Material Available in The workshop and Surroundings

There were certain design parameters guiding the project idea we were to come up with. The material and all other functionality relating to these design projects therefore had to follow the above parameters so as to make the project cost effective yet be of the best quality.

This formed the basis for the kind of material we were to use. These parameters were:

• Recyclable material-the material was to be environment friendly and can be recycled after serving the main purpose.
• Safe-the material had to guarantee that the project will be safe and this means that minimal cases of easy fires and wear or yielding of the material before reaching the designed yield stress.
• Strong and durable-the material especially for the lift was supposed to be strong and have a high tensile strength to avoid failure due to the load for example.
• Easily available-the materials was supposed to be easily available in the surroundings to minimize on the cost of production.

References

Amazon.com. (2017). Amazon.com: winch. [online] Available at: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=winch [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Lewis, K.E., Chen, W. and Schmidt, L.C. eds., 2006. Decision making in engineering design (p. 3). New York: ASME Press.

Science, L. (2017). What is STEM Education?. [online] Live Science. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/43296-what-is-stem-education.html [Accessed 01 June 2017].