For our Creative Engineering Design project, our goal was to come up with a design that would change the world for the better. My group decided to choose waste disposal. We chose this because it has been a very current issue in our generation and hasn't been resolved yet.
For this project, we mainly focused a lot on the Engineering Design Cycle. This is a method used by engineers to test and redesign a problem until it is completely resolved or the engineer is satisfied with the results. These are the steps and how we did each one:
1) Define the problem: On the first day of this project, our group got together to brainstorm ideas for our project. Since we were placed in categories of what we wanted our project to be about (environment, war, economy, etc.). We had decided on environmental issues.
2) Background Research: The next few days were specifically for us to research our problems and why they are happening. Since our initial problem was very broad, we each researched many different things, such as pollution, medical supply disposal, electronic disposal, and battery disposal. We decided that our most interesting and most researched topic was "waste disposal", or hazardous chemicals to be more specific.
3) Brainstorm Solutions: Having researched our problem, we were ready to start thinking of a solution. We had come up with many ideas, such as garbage systems that can recognize trash, recyclables, or compostables, but these ideas never made it past the brainstorming. We had finally settled for a box design and a route for pick up. These boxes would be deposit points for people that have dead batteries. This way it would be easy for people to dispose of them.
4) Build a prototype: "Building the prototype" was pretty easy for us, since we designed a very nice looking box, but we also included our route.
5) Test and redesign: We had gone through many small redesigns, since we argued about the best routes for us to take. The main problem was finding places around Novato, California that many people walked past, but would also be reminded that they should dispose of dead batteries in the box. We finally were able to come up with the places. and made a route for picking up the boxes and taking them to the proper facility: the waste center.
I think this project went very smoothly with my group. We were all very encouraging and gave good feedback to each other, so I think my/our empathy and cooperation were our best traits this project. I can't come up with any specific examples of when these showed, but we would help each other with the research and produce positive feedback for any of our ideas or thoughts. Some poor things were our leadership and initiative. Since we were such good friends, it was hard for us to stay on task and nobody would notify each other to start working, so it was a struggle for us to get things done. However, we when we were able to work, we were very successful in what we produced. Like before, there weren't any specific examples of when these happened, as they were more of a subtle effect on the group.
For this project, we mainly focused a lot on the Engineering Design Cycle. This is a method used by engineers to test and redesign a problem until it is completely resolved or the engineer is satisfied with the results. These are the steps and how we did each one:
1) Define the problem: On the first day of this project, our group got together to brainstorm ideas for our project. Since we were placed in categories of what we wanted our project to be about (environment, war, economy, etc.). We had decided on environmental issues.
2) Background Research: The next few days were specifically for us to research our problems and why they are happening. Since our initial problem was very broad, we each researched many different things, such as pollution, medical supply disposal, electronic disposal, and battery disposal. We decided that our most interesting and most researched topic was "waste disposal", or hazardous chemicals to be more specific.
3) Brainstorm Solutions: Having researched our problem, we were ready to start thinking of a solution. We had come up with many ideas, such as garbage systems that can recognize trash, recyclables, or compostables, but these ideas never made it past the brainstorming. We had finally settled for a box design and a route for pick up. These boxes would be deposit points for people that have dead batteries. This way it would be easy for people to dispose of them.
4) Build a prototype: "Building the prototype" was pretty easy for us, since we designed a very nice looking box, but we also included our route.
5) Test and redesign: We had gone through many small redesigns, since we argued about the best routes for us to take. The main problem was finding places around Novato, California that many people walked past, but would also be reminded that they should dispose of dead batteries in the box. We finally were able to come up with the places. and made a route for picking up the boxes and taking them to the proper facility: the waste center.
I think this project went very smoothly with my group. We were all very encouraging and gave good feedback to each other, so I think my/our empathy and cooperation were our best traits this project. I can't come up with any specific examples of when these showed, but we would help each other with the research and produce positive feedback for any of our ideas or thoughts. Some poor things were our leadership and initiative. Since we were such good friends, it was hard for us to stay on task and nobody would notify each other to start working, so it was a struggle for us to get things done. However, we when we were able to work, we were very successful in what we produced. Like before, there weren't any specific examples of when these happened, as they were more of a subtle effect on the group.