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This information pertains to Summer Session 2009. If you would like to be notified when information about Summer Session 2010 is available, please sign up for e-mail updates.

SYSEN 1100 Getting Design Right: A Systems Approach

Course description

(summer only) This course is only offered in the Summer Session.

This course is a freshman-level exposure to the product design process. The process of getting design right is sometimes called systems engineering. We explain the process using the acronym DMEODVI (Define, Measure, Explore, Optimize, Design, Verify, and Iterate). The process begins with understanding customer requirements and ends with validating the design against those requirements. It can then be iterated to greater levels of design detail. The focus is not on detailed engineering design but rather on the process of ensuring that the detailed design will meet the needs of the customer. Students work through the steps of the process with reference to a particular product design challenge. The course is web-delivered using the Blackboard learning instruction system.

Prerequisites

high school mathematics and science, and familiarity with spreadsheet modeling (eg. MS Excel).

SYSEN 1100 001-LEC

Class number: 2300
Class dates: June 22-July 31, 2009
Final exam dates: Will be provided by instructor (see Final Exams)
Days/times: Distance Learning
Credit: 3
Grade option: GRD
Instructor: Schneider, D. (drs44)
Max. enrollment: 50
To enroll: Enrollment for this class is closed.
Computer requirements: This is a Distance Learning course. Please review the computer hardware and software requirements before enrolling.

View a course video outlining the benefits for:

Whether you are designing a hybrid car, writing a software application, creating a new clothing line, inventing a new consumer product, or putting a robot to work on the surface of Mars, there are questions you should answer if you want to get the design right. Often the first idea we have is not the one that ultimately succeeds. You need a process to move from that first idea to the best idea. This process is called Systems Engineering.

Just as there is a scientific method, through this course you will learn an engineering process of design and planning that can be utilized to lead a team of engineers to turn your ideas into reality. This course explains the process in terms of eight steps: Defining the problem, Exploring the solution space, Measuring your desired outcomes, Optimizing your design for your and your customers' needs, Formalizing the Design architecture for team implementation, Verifying your design meets your goals, and then Iterating the process for continual improvement. In this course you will have the opportunity to experience this process through creating your own individual solution to a real-world "Request for Proposal" design challenge, while working in and out of the class as a team to aid your classmates in refining each other's ideas.

In this year's challenge, you will be designing a "working parts" toy that will be reviewed by the professional designers at Hasbro. Hasbro is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure-time products providing some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world. Your end designs will not only have the chance to win an award but truly impressive designs may even be taken to next stage of the Hasbro development process. With a strong focus on creating a course of maximum benefit to our students, by the end of the course all students will have created their own detailed toy product plan that they can use to showcase their newly developed skills within future internship interviews.

In addition, every week this course will introduce you to at least one of the main engineering disciplines, such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, civil engineering, biomedical engineering and operations research engineering just to name a few. This is incorporated into the course to not only show you how the systems design process you are learning can be widely applied, but also to help you decide which discipline may be right for you. But in the end, regardless of whether you even pursue an engineering career or not, the skills you will develop to know how to tackle a design challenge and to demonstrate your design as the right design, will reward you throughout your professional life.

SYSEN 1100 002-LEC


SYSEN 1100 002-LEC has been canceled.
Class number: 3079
Session: 6-week session
Class dates: June 22-July 31, 2009
Days/times: TR 9 AM - 12:30 PM
Credit: 3
Grade option: GRD
Instructor: TBA
Max. enrollment: 15

Tuition and fees

See "Tuition" for more information.

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