Needs Assessment

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Needs Assessment

• CIVE 4312
• Hanadi Rifai

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Engineering Design Process
Needs Assessment
Implementation
Iteration
Problem Formulation
Analysis
Abstraction And Synthesis
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Establishing Need

• Concern for health, safety and quality of life of
  public
• Redesign existing product
• Better solution for a particular task

4
All Problems are not Equal
5
Success vs. Failure
Failure - inability of engineering solution to
perform its intended function Error -
underlying cause for failure
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Causes of Failure

• Concrete level - Specific physical source (O-ring
  seal in Challenger)
• Process Level - Invalid assumptions or flawed
  execution (O-ring gaskets and putty assumed
  sufficient on Challenger)
• Perspective Level - Flawed value system
  (Manufacturer of Challenger booster-rocket
  overrode engineering recommendations)

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Design Proposal
Engineers often prepare formal design
proposals to justify expenditure of time, money
and effort.

• Why?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
• When?
• What?
• How much?

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Structure of a Proposal

• Objective (Why?)
• Background (Who? Where?)
• Methodology (How? When?)
• Expected Results (What?)
• Costs (How much will it cost?)

The design proposal is a plan
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Methodology

• Approach
• Tasks
• Who will perform tasks
• Schedule of completion

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Gantt Charts
Tasks Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Gather Data
Conceptual Design
Select Alternative
Reporting