ME Capstone I for Fall 2014 (MECE 4340)

(Plan as of May 20
th
- with an expectation of 24 teams)

As you know, capstone design is now a two-semester sequence extending from the fall
through the spring semester.

The prerequisites for MECE 4340 are:
MECE 3338,
MECE 3345,
MECE 3360,
MECE 3369, and
MECE 3371,
the required spring semester MECE courses. MECE 4364 is a co-requisite.

As will be stated on the individual project descriptions, additional courses may be
considered co-requisites for some projects. (The expectation is that at least two team
members will have completed them, will be enrolled in them this fall, or will have the
necessary experience if not academic credit.) MECE 5331 is a co-requisite for most
projects. MEC 4372 is co-requisite for the projects involving electro-mechanical
components and/or controls; Most of the industrial sponsored projects require FEA
analysis; MECE 3334 is a co-requisite for projects involving thermal systems; and MECE
4371 is a co-requisite for projects involving thermal testing (although there could be
some negotiations over MECE 4371).

There are no Project Descriptions Available at this time. However, a tentative list of
expected projects/clients is given below:

Normally, a few more projects are submitted over the summer, and it is expected that
several of you will develop industry-sponsored projects in collaboration with the
companies you are interning with this summer:
1. Cameron
2. FMC
3. Westbrook Manufacturing
4. National Oilwell Varco

Unsponsored but partial supported by the ME Department.
1. Backyard weather station
2. Reynoldss turbulence experiment (a continuation)
3. Robot window washer
4. Solar tracker and collector

Faculty or department sponsored projects
1. STEM: projects related to interesting middle school students in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (work with Dr. Bonnie Dunbar)
2. Space related projects (work Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, e.g., continuation of the
asteroid mining project from 2013-14 which will result in an experiment run by
the students on the micro-gravity flights (the vomit comet) this July).
3. Classroom demonstrations to help explain concepts in undergraduate classes

Design competitions (sponsored by the ME and/or ECE Dept):
1. ASME
2. VEX Robot Competition (joint project with ECE)
3. IEEE Robotics Competition (joint project with ECE)
4. Shell Eco-Marathon Competition (a continuation)

Product Development (going through the steps of developing a new product which
includes a working prototype, a market survey, market testing and a business plan)


You will find that some of the project descriptions are long and some are short, but the
plan is (after you have been assigned a project) for you to redefine (or in some cases
simply better define) your project (with instructor assistance and client approval) in
such a way that all projects require approximately the same amount of effort. In fact, all
initial project descriptions should be viewed as proposed descriptions. Teams are
expected to work with their topics and clients and develop their project descriptions as
appropriate. In some cases the course requirements for a project may exceed the
requirements of the client (external sponsor).

Exceptions are possible, but the plan is to spend the first semester (this fall) carrying out
steps two through six in the design process as defined in MECE 2361:

Problem IDENTIFICATION and SPECIFICATION
INFORMATION gathering
INCUBATION and IDEATION
Development of CONCEPTS (generation of alternatives)
SYNTHESIS
ANALYSIS

The goal for the fall is for each team to pass a Design Review (mid November), submit
all drawings for fabrication, and order all parts. Jerry Clifton, ME Department machinist,
will have a stronger presence in the course this fall and will helping you with the
fabrication issues as needed. We are in the process of working out an agreement with the
College of Architecture to allow teams access to the Keeland Model Facility. The plan is
to have all orders received and all parts available by February 1
st
. The team will spend
the spring semester fabricating, testing, evaluating and assessing. The evaluating and
assessing are the main components in the validation process.

All course materials will be posted on BlackBoard Learn. Everyone registered for
MECE 4340 for fall 2014 should have access to the course (Blackboard Learn) website
around August 1
st
. Through a special arrangement with BlackBoard people your names
will hopefully be uploaded early to the BlackBoard Learn site: https://elearning.uh.edu or
http://www.uh.edu/blackboard , but this early loading has not been confirmed yet. Log in
using your CougarNetUser ID and your CougarNetPassword.

Some of the projects will be discussed in class on August 25
th
; the rest, on August 27
th
,
both classes beginning at 9:00 AM in L2D2. In some cases the clients will make the
presentations. Teams will be formed on August 27
th
and team numbers assigned by the
end of the day. After the Labor Day Holiday, teams will meet individually with the
instructor (probably in the Small ME conference room, across from the elevator outside
the ME office) for 20-minutes between 8 and 11 AM on September 3
th
, 8
th
, and 10
th
(A
schedule will be posted.) to discuss the projects further and have questions answered.
Teams should be prepared to identify (informally) their three choices for projects at these
meetings.

Each team shall submit mini-proposals (actually one Mini-Proposal (1
st
choice) and two
Mini-Mini-Proposals (2
nd
and 3
rd
choices) for three projects, by noon on Thursday,
September 11
th
. A format will be provided. The plan is to officially make the project
assignments by 5 PM Friday the 12
th
. An important part of these mini-proposals will be
the qualifications of the team members, e.g., the courses completed (Many of the project
descriptions include expected course prerequisites for team members.) and experience
obtained that are associated with the subject of the project. After the teams and projects
have been set, two members of each team will prepare detailed proposals (one written
and the other oral) which will be due on October 1
st
, 6
th
and 8
th
(The date for your team
will depend upon which cohort you are assigned to.) Two written and oral progress
reports will follow (each prepared or given by different individuals) every two weeks.
Details will be posted by August 25
th
and discussed in class on the August 25
th
.

See the Class Calendar and Grading information posted under Class Documents for more
information. Note that additional meetings and activities may be added to the calendar.
Team meetings may be scheduled (rbb@uh.edu) at any time (with Monday and
Wednesday preferred, but Tuesday and Thursday are possible) throughout the semester
by appointment (initiated by the team) on a first-come, first-time-choice basis. Emailed
questions/discussions are also appropriate.

Since you are only a short time away from entering the engineering profession, it is
expected that you will act and behave as professionals. While the vast majority of last
years class acted accordingly, a few were disappointing team members and infrequent
class attendees. In an attempt to establish accountably there will be more monitoring
of team participation and class attendance this semester. This issue and potential
consequences will be discussed on August 25
th
.

The class is scheduled from 8 to 11 AM Mondays and Wednesdays. This six-hour
window is primarily to allow time for student presentations every two weeks (The plan
is to assign each team to a cohort; teams need attend only the presentations within their
cohort, but, of course, are invited to attend additional presentations.) and for scheduled
team meetings with the instructor. Normally, class will begin at 9 AM or 10 AM for a
lecture to the entire class. This window also provides a time for teams to meet when class
attendance for their team is not required, e.g., before and after lectures and when their
cohort is not presenting.

Economics: External clients are expected to financially support and advise their projects.
Projects for the ME Department and faculty (new UG laboratory demonstrations and
experiments or projects related to a faculty members research) are supported by the
department and the individual faculty, respectively. For the remaining projects, the
finances are to be determined. Neither of the capstone courses requires that a textbook be
purchased (except for the FE Reference Book for about $20). Therefore at $100 per
textbook, each team is saving more than $800 on books for the two courses. It is expected
that some teams will spend part of these funds on their projects. That said, big ticket
items may be purchased through and by the Department. Check with the instructor. If
you are buying materials for which you expect (hope) to be reimbursed, check with the
instructor first, but dont expect reimbursements for small items, artifacts which will be
retained by the team, nor for any items related to documentation of your project.

For projects with an external sponsor, purchases should be made through the sponsor. It
is expected that the sponsor will also provide machining support. For projects sponsored
by the ME Department and ME faculty, large purchases should be made through the ME
Department (the UH Purchasing process); small purchases should be made by the team
with reimbursement from the ME Department. Keep receipts and do not pay State Taxes.
State Tax Exemption forms can be obtained from the ME Office. Reimbursements must
be made within 60 days of purchase, so request reimbursements (forms available in the
ME Office; ask the instructor or the faculty sponsoring the project) soon after purchase,
in less than ten days unless additional purchases are expected soon. For other projects it
is expected that the team will be responsible for expenditures, but check with instructor
before making any expensive purchases. Jerry Clifton will be available for machining for
projects but not for the externally sponsored ones. As noted above, you will need to work
with him in the fall in preparing the drawings. As you can imagine there is potentially a
large workload for Jerry. Work is processed on a first come, first serve basis, so the
earlier your design and drawings are completed, the more likely you to get a fast start in
the spring.