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Project Ideas

ENGR1201 project idea brainstorming memo:

Wouldn't it be cool if someone made a ________?

Project idea exchange:

Prepare short statements paraphrasing 3 possible 1201 projects to exchange with others the first week of the semester.  Keep it brief, simple, and general.  Projects can be based on ideas, problems, or your own hobbies & interests.    

The sky is the limit – you can build a model if building the real thing is not feasible (but you will need to physically build something).  Incorporate civic engagement or volunteer work into your project to have service learning added to your transcript.  Interested in going above and beyond for an honor’s project? Let me know!

Example Project idea Discussion Post:

Start with your name –
Jordan Johnson’s Project Ideas

Schedule: I am free to work with my group ______________ (on weekends? TTH nights? MW night? Crazy schedule but can work online?

Resources / contribution:  I’m good at / I enjoy _____ (writing reports, researching, using excel, building things, organizing, testing).  I know someone / have access to ________ that can help the group if needed. (Machine shop, 3D printer, subject matter expert, etc.)

Possible Project Ideas:
Fill in 3 ideas, problems, hobbies, or other interests you have for a semester project.  Examples of ideas/problems/hobbies are given below:

11. Idea: Create a device that generates electricity from the motion of ocean waves.  Research ocean currents, power generation methodologies, and take a field trip to the gulf.   
o   Category: energy, water
2
22. Problem: Need better access to free wifi. How about a project that compares and improves cheap DIY wireless extenders? (cantenna vs. steel strainer vs. aluminum foil etc.)  Project fieldtrips could include visiting the local Ham radio club, and going wardriving/point mapping. 
o   Category: communication, consumer products
3
33.  Hobby/Interest: Do you enjoy camping?  Sports?  How about improving outdoor gear – anything from water filtration, to tents/packs/stoves/boots/lamps/hats/frizbees/bikes.  Pick a piece of equip for an outdoor hobby, and make it just a little bit better. 
o   Category: entertainment, consumer products

Categorize each of your ideas as being related to:
  • ·        Transportation
  • ·        Consumer products
  • ·        Entertainment
  • ·        Communication
  • ·        Energy
  • ·        Agriculture
  • ·        Water
  • ·        Infrastructure
  • ·        Medical
  • ·        Other
  
First week of class:
Exchange project ideas with classmates, find others with similar interests and ideas, and form project groups.

Second week→end of semester
Work in project groups to create:
  • Decision table: combine ideas and decide as a group what project to work on.
  • Timeline: Divide tasks, and assign functions and responsibilities to everyone in group.  
  • Proposal: Pitch your group's project idea to the rest of the class.  Consider peer review comments, make needed design modifications, finalize direction of project.
  • Build and testing phase.
  • End of semester project report and presentation.

Apply the engineering method while working through the project:

EngineeringMethod:
1.      Define the problem you are going to solve.
2.      State the goals of the project (50% cheaper? 10% Faster? 30% more durable? Easier to use? Etc. make your goals specific – put a number to it where you can!)
3.      Research other similar products – join the forums and communities of people working in the field on your chosen problem.
4.      Brainstorm how you are going to solve your problem (Quantity not quality – no judgements allowed, come up with as many crazy ideas as you can – thinktank it!
5.      Analyze everything you came up with in your brainstorming session, create a decision table – rate and rank all of the ideas to narrow it down to the top possibilities.
6.      Test it – this is an ongoing step.  When you start physically building it, problem areas will crop up, and you should redesign your “rough draft” first attempts at it.
7.      Decide – which idea are you going to go with?  Don’t rush into a decision, but don’t take too long either.  The semester is short – you need to start building, testing, and modifying soon!
8.      Communicate – write the project proposal, this will turn into your project report by the end of the semester.
9.      Commercialize – what would it take to put your idea into mass production?  Try out kick-starter, post in some forums, get user feedback – test the waters!
10.   Review – nothing is perfect, how does your project still need to be improved?  Version 1.0→Version 1.1→V2.0→V10.  What will the next model have?  Many of your upcoming classes will have projects – consider the possibility of using and improving your 1201 project in another class!


Having trouble coming up with ideas?  Skim through below!


Join an online maker competition:
http://www.instructables.com/contest/
https://www.thingiverse.com/challenges

Scroll through current challenges:

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges.aspx



http://collegiateinventors.org/


What is a "Maker"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture



Be a maker


http://makezine.com/2015/09/04/trash-every-maker-should-be-stoked-to-score/?utm_source=MakeNewsletter+20150915&utm_medium=email&utm_term&utm_content=image&utm_campaign=newsletter




KickStarter
Cruise through and check out the kick-starter projects, and consider starting up a kick starter project of your own!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/232361696/renegade-the-worlds-first-3d-pen-to-run-on-plastic?ref=category



https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/design?ref=discover_index




Recycled material for a civic engagement project - something like this could get you service learning on your transcript!



Want to see some of the competitions going on right now?  Most might be a little over your head, but there are still some good ideas and real needs here!
https://www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/browse


There are lots of engineering related challenges/competitions with prize money etc. going on all of the time - just use google!  If you find a set of neat challenges going on, post a link in D2L for D2L points!

 https://www.challenge.gov/agency/environmental-protection-agency/

 https://grabcad.com/challenges


Contributing something to the world via creative commons can earn you service learning too - explore some of the fun communities out there, and get involved with some real projects!







In 1974, 3M scientist Art Fry came up with a clever invention. He thought if he could apply an adhesive (dreamed up by colleague Spencer Silver several years earlier) to the back of a piece of paper, he could create the perfect bookmark, one that kept place in his church hymnal. He called it the Post-It Note. Fry came up with the now iconic product (he talks to the Smithsonian about it here) during his "15 percent time," a program at 3M that allows employees to use a portion of their paid time to chase rainbows and hatch their own ideas. It might seem like a squishy employee benefit. But the time has actually produced many of the company's best-selling products and has set a precedent for some of the top technology companies of the day, like Google and Hewlett-Packard.

Google's 80/20 principle:
"Google works from the bottom up. If you have a great technical idea, you don’t have your V.P. send out a memo telling everybody to use it. Instead, you take it to your fellow engineers and convince them that it’s good. Good ideas spread fast, and this approach keeps us from making technical mistakes. But it also means that the burden falls upon you to spread your idea....
It sounds obvious, but people work better when they’re involved in something they’re passionate about, and many cool technologies have their origins in 20 percent time, including Gmail, Google News and even the Google shuttle buses that bring people to work at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
If your 20 percent idea is a new product, it’s usually pretty easy to just find a few like-minded people and start coding away. But when the thing you really want to work on is to make a broad change across the whole organization, you need something new — you need a “grouplet.”
These grouplets have practically no budget, and they have no decision-making authority. What they have is a bunch of people who are committed to an idea and willing to work to convince the rest of the company to adopt it." - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/jobs/21pre.html?_r=0

Check out cool idea award winners:
http://www.protolabs.com/cool-idea



http://www.pinterest.com/easylunchboxes/super-cool-ideas-tips/
Pizza Scissors serve


 
BikePack
 Glass Holder
 Traffic Signal with Hour glass timer
 Solar Charging while Parking

 Wearable wireless mouse
 Hoodie BackPack
 Independent Kids
 
Hidden Power Outlet
 
Unique umbrella design
 Ruler with holes for precision
 Eco friendly Toilet
 Mobile Charging made easy
 Solar rocking chair
 Digitally precise protractor
 You can find the keyhole even when drunk

 Smart Jeans for smart phone users

 Bicycle Parking
 
Digital Measuring Cup
 Built-in Wall extension cord
 Scale Out Architecture
 Multi Tasking cooking ware
 iPhone Lens
 On-Demand Cup Holder
 Spoke-less bicycle
 Compact Boots

 
Digital Ink for Tablets
 
Solar Charges + Window Stickies
 Salt Water Powered Clock
 Hand Powered Shredder

 Wifi Digital Pen
 Rubik's cube for the blind

 
Self Locking Bike
 Calender Ring
 Table Tennis Door

Solar Powered Camping Tent



Make something new, or re-engineer and re-introduce an older idea that has been forgotten.



Projects from past semesters:
New wind turbine design
automatically loading T-shirt cannon
Sooper flat folding chair
Coffee table with pop up TV trays
Koolin Koozie wrap for drinks & more
Handicap accessibility ramp for vehicle
Swiss army walking stick
Innovative no spill drink tray
Water purification techniques for developing countries
Innovative yard and garden tools
Improved roller coaster seat belts
Self-healing target for knife throwing and archery
Improved traffic lights (flash like pedestrian light to warn alert drivers time before light change)
Outdoor air-conditioner 
No-flats bike tire
Auto-inflate car tire
Knee pads to prevent acl tears
Helmet to prevent CTE
Hydroponic gardening system
Electrically heated jacket
Backpack with solar panels
Happy Inventing, I can't wait to see what project you create!!!


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