5pages

MAE 400 – FALL 2017

Second Individual Essay for MAE 400

• Topic: Roles of Engineers During Product Lifecycle

IMPORTANT FACT:

Engineers are needed everywhere in technology – from long lead “pure research” to applied “research & development” through sales & marketing support as well as for creatively fixing old equipment

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Your Topic - Roles of Engineering in forthcoming Engineering Grand Challenges

“Grand Challenges for Engineering,” the National Academy of Engineering

Reference: www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx

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Engineering Challenges

• Make solar energy economical –production and storage

• Manage the nitrogen cycle Engineers can help restore balance to the nitrogen cycle with better fertilization technologies and by capturing and recycling waste.

• Advance health informatics Stronger health information systems not only improve everyday medical visits, but they are essential to counter pandemics and biological or chemical attacks.

• Prevent nuclear terror The need for technologies to prevent and respond to a nuclear attack is growing.

• Advance personalized learning Instruction can be individualized based on learning styles, speeds, and interests to make learning more reliable.

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Engineering Challenges

• Provide energy from fusion Human-engineered fusion has been demonstrated on a small scale. The challenge is to scale up the process to commercial proportions, in an efficient, economical, and environmentally benign way.

• Provide access to clean water The world's water supplies are facing new threats; affordable, advanced technologies could make a difference for millions of people around the world.

• Engineer better medicines-Engineers are developing new systems to use genetic information, sense small changes in the body, assess new drugs, and deliver vaccines

• Secure cyberspace It's more than preventing identity theft. Critical systems in banking, national security, and physical infrastructure may be at risk.

• Engineer the tools of scientific discovery In the century ahead, engineers will continue to be partners with scientists in the great quest for understanding many unanswered questions of nature.

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Engineering Challenges

• Develop carbon sequestration methods Engineers are working on ways to capture and store excess carbon dioxide to prevent global warming.

• Restore and improve urban infrastructure Good design and advanced materials can improve transportation and energy, water, and waste systems, and also create more sustainable urban environments.

• Reverse-engineer the brain The intersection of engineering and neuroscience promises great advances in health care, manufacturing, and communication.

• Enhance virtual reality True virtual reality creates the illusion of actually being in a difference space. It can be used for training, treatment, and communication.

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Essay Structure - What Paper Should Include

• The student should select (from the list) his or her top challenge facing society

• Intro – You need to explain what this challenge is, and what sort of technology does this challenge entail – Please include a writeup discussing why you think this topic is important

• Explain the many and varied roles that Engineers play during the Lifecycle of this Technology

– Select three roles engineers can fulfill in addressing the challenge. – Example roles:

• Researcher • Designer • Project Manager • Systems Engineer • Sales Engineer • Manufacturing Engineer • Marketing Engineer • Product Support Engineer

• Sum up why no one type of engineer can do everything! Slide 142

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Role of Engineer Paper

• For each role, the student should describe what the engineer would be doing to address the challenge. – The emphasis here is NOT so much on the engineering

solution, but what engineers need to do… – Example:

• For renewable energy, a design engineer could optimize the configuration of a PV solar power plant by reducing the weight of the aluminum support structure for the concentrating mirrors. This would reduce the cost-of-electricity….

• Consider what engineers ahead of and behind the design engineer need to do!

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Role of Engineer Paper

• Continue to follow the Style Guide (spacing, margins, exec summary, APA format references)

• There should be at least two direct quotes in the paper. Facts and thoughts that are not the student’s MUST be referenced.

• The paper should be long enough to adequately cover the assignment, but concise enough to hold the reader’s attention. – Please keep it around 1,200 words. Slide 144

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Things to think about when writing

• Are the challenges reasonable? – Are the roles of the engineer inherently reasonable? – How you explain your reasoning when you write

• Do you jump from topic to conclusion with no discussion? • Do you “ramble” all over the place? • Do you present several arguments and counter arguments?

• You need to cite other sources, not just your opinion – Make sure there are least two direct quotes – Use the quotes to make your argument more effective.

• You can agree or disagree with the quotes

• Make sure your paper is concise yet complete – Hold to word limit

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When we grade you…

• Remember! – These papers do not have one “correct” answer! – But to get full credit you need to make sure that

• Your paper follows the Style Guide • You don’t have misssspellings, odd

cApitaLization,, strange punctuation and other typographical errors!

• Your logical arguments “flow” and make sense • If you present facts and opinions other than the

your own, that they are referenced!

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