CENE 286 – COURSE PROJECT SOLICITATION
(500 points possible, 25% of course grade)
Client Request: Solve a real world problem. This problem does not have to be civil or environmental. Follow
the design process to deliver your alternatives, chosen solution, analysis, and results.
There are minimal requirements that need to be met for this project to be considered complete, but they are
significant:
1. Project must demonstrate that the engineering design process was followed to determine the “best”
solution
a. Typically students do not adequately explore alternatives, provide information that the final
selection is better than the other alternatives, use constraints/ criteria that are measureable,
provide analysis that yields verifiable results, and do enough analysis
2. Final solution must include an economic analysis of life-cycle costs for your project. This will be
difficult for sophomores, but if you do your research you can pull together some legitimate numbers
3. Identify and explain the impacts on the following
a. Economy
b. Environment
c. Community
d. Society
Unfortunately there are some projects we will not allow to be done because they have bene done so many times
in the past:
Rural drinking water treatment
City of Flagstaff traffic
NAU traffic
NAU housing
Any project that another team has already selected to work on
As a team you will identify the problem you would like to work on.
Little direction will be provided in this solicitation, it will be 100% necessary to explore your problem and the
project to ask well thought out and legitimate questions that will help you deliver the best possible project you
can.
Schedule/Deliverables
Course Project Memo 1: Initial (Individual) Problem Statement (30 points)
Done individually
An initial, but sound beginning, four part, problem statement for the project chosen by your team. You
may work collaboratively, but each individual must submit a Problem Statement
Good practice would suggest that a cover memo for this, and most, submittals is warranted
Course Project Memo 2, Project Understanding, a team submittal (40 points)
A team submittal
Memo should include
o Your understanding of project, it’s need, its technical ‘niche’, and how much existing design is
already out there for this problem? And, your understanding of your specific “problem” ,
including site, technical niche, scope, etc.
o A repeat of your now highly developed Constraints and Criteria for this challenge, including
explicit note of those items that were discovered during the ‘additional info & data, and sources’
requirement of your problem statement
o Identify, in writing and equation, what you anticipate, even at this early juncture in the project, to
be the analysis methodology you’ll end up using, in conjunction with your constraints and
criteria, to winnow down your candidate suite of design concepts towards your final design
Course Project Memo 3: Team Problem Statement (20 points)
Done as a team
Based on the feedback you received on your individual problem statements development a team problem
statement for your project
Course Project Memo 4, Progress Report, 30% Design, done individually (40 points)
Done individually
Your 30% report should explain and identify that you have done the work and research required to
“know your project”, have developed a suite of potential solutions and include a discussion on the
analysis methodologies you anticipate needing to narrow your design suite of ideas down to the one
recommended solution
In your own words provide a description what your progress has been towards completing the course
project
All of the above should be in reference to the engineering design process and analysis
Course Project Team Progress Report, 60% (40 points) Done as a team
Consider the guidance provided from previous, similar submittals from this and previous projects
Your 60% report should demonstrate that you have done the design work, through analysis and the
reduction of your suite of design concepts to final, recommended solution. This report needs to
demonstrate to the client that you’re progressing successfully towards meeting the project challenge.
Most of your analysis is done by this point, but you may have some finalizing to do
This report must also, explicitly state whether you are on track and ‘on budget’ to complete this project
on time.
The ‘talking points’ of this report should all align with elements of the engineering design process
Course Project Poster (100 points)
Done as a team
You are encouraged to use the template, provided
Like reports and presentations, a poster presentations should be aligned with the design process
Posters should be concise and neatly organized for quick and consideration They should minimize
reading (lists and short paragraphs are okay) and rely heavily on images, graphs, diagrams, and charts
When creating the verbiage for a poster think about the requirements of a presentation. You do not want,
nor should you expect people to stand there for solely for the purpose of reading it
The primary difference between a poster and an oral presentation is that you have the opportunity to
engage individuals in detailed discussions on various aspects of the project. This level of intimate,
interactive discussion is rarely available in a ‘lecture style’ oral presentation
As is often the tradition where poster presentations are common, you will provide a very brief (3 min +/)
introduction to your project and its conclusion/recommendation
Course Project Final Report Submittal (100 points)
Done as a team
Consider the provided guidelines
Must include methods of analysis, results of analysis, and discussion of analysis
Discussion must also address the following
o Probable economic impacts of your proposed solution
o Probable environmental impacts of your proposed solution
o Probable societal impacts of your proposed solution
o Probable engineering impacts of your proposed solution
o A list of all professional disciplines that may be needed to implement your solution and a brief
discussion of what their role would be
The final report must explicitly address all external comments provided for the 60% progress report
o The 60% progress report and mark-up must be (re) submitted
with this final report
Course Project Peer Evaluation, done individually (50 points)
Done individually
Provide your peer evaluation using the template provided for Design Project 1
