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Lecture 1
Capstone Design 1

International University
National University – HCMC
Dr. Nguyen Dinh Uyen
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Capstone Design 1

Course Instructors: Dr. Nguyen Dinh Uyen

Class hours: Tuesday 8:00-10:30 PM

Text book:
None

TA:
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Personal Background

 Lived and worked in the US since 1981

 Received Ph.D. from Catholic University of America in 2001
 Taught at CUA from 1998-2003
 Worked for NASA from 1989-1995
 Consulted for US government and various companies: Titan, L3, and
Raytheon, from 1995-2008
 Current:
 Teaching at the International University
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Capstone Design 1

Grading Policy
Capstone professor
 Attendance (fail the class if missing >3 classes) (30%)
 Mid-term exam, draft of the proposal, and group presentation (30%)
Advised professor
 Participation+ group work
 Final group presentation and report (40%)
Office hours: Monday 8-10:30AM, Room 108-A2

Contact information: nduyen@hcmiu.edu.vn ,

(08) 372-44270 Ext.3231

Lecture Notes and HW:

BLACKBOARD
Handouts
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Capstone Design 1

Class Room Policy

No Talking

No Cell Phone during class

After 15 minutes class room will be closed

Quizzes will be given without notice

Attendance is required

Students missing 3 classes will not be

allowed to take the final exam and will fail the
class
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Capstone Design 1

Objectives:

 This course is an introduction to engineering design process.

 Two semesters of lecture and design.
 Students will work in multidisciplinary teams to complete an approved engineering
design projects
 Students will learn to define a problem, conduct research to propose the solutions,
determine the realistic constraints, prepare project scheduling, and create a
planned budget for the project.
 Students will complete a proposal of the design, which they will
 The work will be performed as a team in accordance with ABET requirements.
Each team is comprised of two to four students
 Students will be assigned an advisor
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TOPICS

 Design Process
 Presentations:
Issues
Problem statement
Literature Review
Proposed methodology
Preliminary Results (Advised Professor will help)
 Write a Senior/Thesis Report
Draft at Midterm
Proposal at Final
 Two Presentations
Midterm: Present proposed idea
Final: Present the solution and preliminary data
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Blackboard

• We will use Blackboard and email to communicate

• Course information and materials will be posted on Blackboard
• http://bb.hcmiu.edu.vn:8080/

Account: Your ID
Password: ?
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Hubble Space Telescope

NASA 1989 – 1996

- Write code in Fortran
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Affordable
Weapon
System

X-Craft

Future Combat
System
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Graduate students:
-Antenna for RTLS
-Antenna for 5G
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10cm 15cm 20cm

Graduate students:
-Affect of cellular phone with the
human male’s productive
system.
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Graduate student:
-Level of brain injury during the
motorbike accident
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Graduate students:
-Detect the eye movements to control the mouse on
the computer
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Tools

•Matlab
•Arduino IDE
•Atrium
•Solidworks
•Circuit Board CNC
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Engineer and Engineering Design

• The word engineer has Latin roots in ingeniare (i.e. “to contrive,
devise”) and ingenium (i.e. “cleverness”).

• An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, who has

mathematical and scientific training and can apply such knowledge,
together with ingenuity, to design and build complicated products,
machines, structures or systems and thus develops solutions for
technical problems.

• An engineering design pulls together (i.e. synthesizes) something

new or arranges existing things in a new way to satisfy a recognized
need of society. Engineering designs considers the limitations
imposed by practicality, regulation, safety, and cost.
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Challenges of Engineering Design

• Creativity: creation of something that has not existed before

• Complexity: requires decisions on many variables and parameters
• Choice: requires making choices between many solutions at all
levels, from basic concepts to the smallest detail
• Compromise: requires balancing multiple and sometimes conflicting
requirements
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Definition of Engineering Design

Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component, or

process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often
iterative), in which the basic science and mathematics and engineering
sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated
objective
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Engineering Design Models

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Capstone Design 1

Capstone Design 2

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/engineering-design-
process/engineering-design-process-steps#problem
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This process can be divided up into steps, which

includes: (for Capstone 1)

1.Identifying a need (or issue)

2.Defining the problem (problem statement)
3.Background research (literature review)
4.Specify requirements
5.Brainstorm and Evaluate multiple solution
6.Choose a solution and Making a decision
7.Presenting the product
1. Documentation
2. Presentation
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1- Identify a need

The first step of this process is the identification of a need

•Engineers themselves often do not do this step of the

process, but rather society discovers a need and then
presents that need to the engineering firm/community
•The term “need” is fairly vague, but often refers to desire
or shortage of a good
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Example 1

Nhận biết hoa quả 'tẩm' hóa chất

Cam, lê, táo… có hóa chất bảo quản; đu đủ, chuối… có đất
đèn; các loại dưa có phun hoặc tiêm thuốc… là những điều
nhiều bà nội trợ vẫn bán tín bán nghi về độ xác thực của thông
tin.
Người bán cũng không phân biệt được
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Example 2

Thịt lợn thối tiêm thuốc an thần, ngâm hóa chất thành thịt tươi.
Thịt heo là món ăn quen thuộc trong bữa cơm của mỗi gia đình
nhưng thật đáng lo ngại khi một số kẻ kinh doanh vô đạo đức
đang tìm mọi cách "tẩm độc" thịt heo để thu lợi bất chính.
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Example 3

Ngập nước ở TP.HCM: Theo các chuyên gia, trước tình hình
ngập úng như hiện nay tại TP.HCM, người dân chỉ có thể học
cách thích nghi nhưng không thể chịu đựng mãi.
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Example 4

Một số trường học đang

triển khai thi học kỳ trực
tuyến sao cho vừa đánh giá
đúng năng lực, vừa chống
gian lận nhưng cũng không
quá gây áp lực cho học
sinh.

Sinh viên đại học gian lận

thường xuyên.
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Example 5

Cộng đồng bức xúc

trước những hình ảnh
con trai và con dâu
ngược đãi mẹ già 88
tuổi ở Tiền Giang.
Nghĩ về những tình
cảnh người già đang
sống cô đơn giữa
người thân trong ngôi
nhà của mình. Ai
chăm lo cho người
già?
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2- Define a Problem

The second step of the engineering design process is

defining the problem. Engineers must appropriately
define the problem first in order to find an acceptable
solution to it or improve it.

•What is the problem or need?

•Who has the problem or need?
•Why is it important to solve?

•Problem statement must be as specific as possible

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Example 1

Background
Nhận biết hoa quả 'tẩm' hóa chất
Cam, lê, táo… có hóa chất bảo quản; đu đủ, chuối… có đất
đèn; các loại dưa có phun hoặc tiêm thuốc… là những điều
nhiều bà nội trợ vẫn bán tín bán nghi về độ xác thực của thông
tin.
Người bán cũng không phân biệt được

Problem statement?
• Lam sao tim duoc thuoc bao quan
tren trai cay?
• Lam sao quan ly duoc nguon goc cua
trai cay?
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Example 2

Background
Thịt lợn thối tiêm thuốc an thần, ngâm hóa chất thành thịt tươi.
Thịt heo là món ăn quen thuộc trong bữa cơm của mỗi gia đình
nhưng thật đáng lo ngại khi một số kẻ kinh doanh vô đạo đức
đang tìm mọi cách "tẩm độc" thịt heo để thu lợi bất chính.

Problem statement:

• Lam sao do duoc chat khang

sinh trong thit heo?
• Lam sao quan ly duoc nguon
goc cua thit heo?
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Example 3

Background
Ngập nước ở TP.HCM: Theo các chuyên gia, trước tình hình
ngập úng như hiện nay tại TP.HCM, người dân chỉ có thể học
cách thích nghi nhưng không thể chịu đựng mãi.

Problem statement:
• Lam sao biet duoc noi nao se
ngap nuoc?
• Lam sao bao duoc cho nguoi di
duong biet duoc cho ngap nuoc
de tranh?
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Example 4

Background
Một số trường học đang
triển khai thi học kỳ trực
tuyến sao cho vừa đánh giá
đúng năng lực, vừa chống
gian lận nhưng cũng không
quá gây áp lực cho học
sinh.

Sinh viên đại học gian lận

thường xuyên.

Problem statement:
• Lam sao biet duoc sinh vien copy?
• Lam sao de thi se khong giong nhau?
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Example 5

Background
Cộng đồng bức xúc trước
những hình ảnh con trai và
con dâu ngược đãi mẹ già 88
tuổi ở Tiền Giang. Nghĩ về
những tình cảnh người già
đang sống cô đơn giữa người
thân trong ngôi nhà của mình.
Ai chăm lo cho người già?

Problem statement:
• Lam sao giam sat duoc nguoi gia song mot minh qua IOT?
• Lam sao co the giup duoc gia dinh lo cho ba me liet giuong?
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3- Background Research

The third step in the design process is background research

•Most of a productive engineer’s time will be spent locating,
applying, and transferring information
•In order for an engineer to solve a problem, they first must
be well acquainted with as much information possible, which
in turn produce a better solution
•Background research is especially important for engineering
design projects, because you can learn from the experience
of others rather than blunder around and repeat their
mistakes.
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3- Background Research

Steps to perform background research:

1.Identify questions to ask about your customer.
2.Identify questions to ask about the products that already
exist to solve the problem you defined.
3.Find and read the general information
4.Find and read specific scientific publications relate to your
key words. Use the bibliographies and sources in everything
you read to find additional sources of information.
5.Search the Internet to get information from an organization,
society or online database.
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Example

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
330710620_Detecting_and_Mapping_Harmful_Chemicals_in_Fruit_and_
Vegetables_Using_Nanoparticle-Enhanced_Laser-
Induced_Breakdown_Spectroscopy
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4- Specify Requirements

Design requirements state the important characteristics that

your solution must meet to succeed. One of the best ways to
identify the design requirements for your solution is to analyze
the concrete example of a similar, existing product, noting
each of its key features.
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4- Examples

1. What are the physical requirements/limits of the product you are

designing? The answers to this question are your next design
requirements
1. Weight < 2kg
2. Power < 2 watts

2. What are the conceptual requirements/limits of the product you

are designing? Examples often include cost and the timeline of
the project.
1. The product will cost 30USD to make
2. The product will be manufactured in less than 1 month
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5- Brainstorm and Evaluate

#1 Rule when creating alternative solutions: DON'T

SETTLE FOR YOUR FIRST IDEA!

Good designers try to generate as many possible

solutions as they can before choosing one that they feel
is the best. This creative process of developing ideas is
called ideation.

Methods of ideation include:

1. Examining existing solutions
2. Creating and using analogies
3. Conducting brainstorming sessions
4. Sketching and doodling
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6- Choose a solution

First, look at whether each possible solution met your design requirements.
Consider solutions that did a much better job than others, and reject those
that did not meet the requirements.
Some criteria apply to virtually every design. Good designers consider
these universal design criteria when choosing which possible solution to
implement:
Elegance
Robustness
Aesthetics
Cost
Resources
Time
Skill required
Safety
It helps to compare solutions in a decision matrix.
If your requirements and solutions are relatively simple, you can sometimes
just list the pros and cons for each solution.
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6- Example
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7- Presenting the Product

1. Documentation
1. Senior Report
2. Thesis Report
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Literature Review
4. Methodology
5. Preliminary Results
6. Conclusion/Discussion
7. Future works
2. Presentation
1. Senior
2. Thesis
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HW- 1

1- Create a group of 4-5 people

2- For each group, identify 2 current issues in
the Vietnam or the world(agriculture,
education, or social). Identify the 5 problems
to be solved. Present the problem with the
followings.
1. Issues:
2. Problem statements:
1.Report: voi ten cua group, table of content, list
of figure, list of table.
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