Designing a Solution to a World-wide Problem
December Nineteenth, Two Thousand Thirteen
As a group, our goal was to create a solution for a major problem that benefits at least one person; we decided to build shelters in Japan in order to protect the citizens from fatal tsunamis. The main objective of this project was to introduce the engineering and design cycle, which is the basic outline of steps engineers use when trying to solve a problem. This cycle always starts with identifying a problem; if you do not understand what the issue is, it is nearly impossible to find a solution. From this point, we needed to research our problem and overall topic in order to understand the mechanics of the society and other problems that may arise. After this, we brainstormed any type of solution; in the end, we came up with approximately twenty ideas ranging from ideal solutions like drainage systems to unrealistic plans such as whale power or magical forcefields. Then, our group proceeded by choosing the most likely solution, in this case water proof buildings, and creating a prototype to test. As the final part of this project, we needed to present our idea to a panel of people, such as our classmates, in order to spread the new idea so it can be put into action. At any point along this process, engineers redesign, gather more information, then redesign again and again. Depending on the problem, this procedure takes a varying amount of time and can sometimes last lifetimes without finding the proper answer. Tsunami.
The video to the right was included in our presentation. As a group, we decided that we wanted to emphasize the need for protection from tsunamis and this video displayed the mass of destruction and lives threatened by the natural disaster. During our presentation, we showed the first thirty-five seconds of the video(until the music change).
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Tsunami Protection Program
The main point of completing this project was to introduce the job of most engineers. The majority of engineers spend their entire lives devoted to one single problem and take all of their time into finding a solution. This includes researching a lot and being able to present the ideas to the community in a chance of benefiting other people or the environment. In our case, the goal of our presentation was to make people aware of the dangers of tsunamis and persuade people to fund construction of a safe-building. We researched the most damaged areas, coastal population, the amount of deaths, and the hypothetical possibilities for solutions in order to suggest our idea. The majority of our work was put into figuring out the main problem and finding diverse ways to solve that issue. One difficult part to achieving our goal was constructing the PowerPoint in a manner that was clear and concise to the audience. Since there was so much information, it was hard to decide what was important, the order of the slides, and the phrasing of words. Once the presentation was finally organized, revised, and edited, the focus of our group was to work on the speaking part of the presentation. Without a proper presentation, it is difficult for anyone to take your idea seriously; when you spend so much time working on a certain goal, you want to show how dedicated you are by being well prepared.
The main point of completing this project was to introduce the job of most engineers. The majority of engineers spend their entire lives devoted to one single problem and take all of their time into finding a solution. This includes researching a lot and being able to present the ideas to the community in a chance of benefiting other people or the environment. In our case, the goal of our presentation was to make people aware of the dangers of tsunamis and persuade people to fund construction of a safe-building. We researched the most damaged areas, coastal population, the amount of deaths, and the hypothetical possibilities for solutions in order to suggest our idea. The majority of our work was put into figuring out the main problem and finding diverse ways to solve that issue. One difficult part to achieving our goal was constructing the PowerPoint in a manner that was clear and concise to the audience. Since there was so much information, it was hard to decide what was important, the order of the slides, and the phrasing of words. Once the presentation was finally organized, revised, and edited, the focus of our group was to work on the speaking part of the presentation. Without a proper presentation, it is difficult for anyone to take your idea seriously; when you spend so much time working on a certain goal, you want to show how dedicated you are by being well prepared.
Reflection
Overall, this project ran very smoothly. Although there were certain troubling points, our group was able to have a successful presentation. One issue that was present was the fact of unreliable WiFi. Being unable to access the internet made it difficult to open emails and download pictures that were needed for our PowerPoint. The majority of the time, we would walk to the library and use those computers, but even then, we would have problems with logging in the correct account and opening the right documents. This teaches us to be prepared for unexpected delays; not everything will reach our expectations and we should be ready for these cases. This ties into communicating. During the course of this project, several at home materials were needed to build our prototype. When a person was absent during the assembly of our final product, it was very important to contact them based on the information we learned that day, tasks we resolved to accomplish in the following days, and anything else that may have changed.
One successful aspect of this project was the perseverance our group maintained through out the thought process. This means that at times, our focus was kept even though there were challenging parts of constructing our PowerPoint. We were very committed to our idea and I feel like we exemplified our ideals. I believe it is very important to help save people's lives, especially when they have no available option for rescue; this was highlighted in our presentation and I hope it inspired others to act in order to help those in need.
Another flourishing part of our project was our preparation. Leading up to the presentation, our group dedicated an extra hour after school to running through our PowerPoint. We split the speaking parts equally and divided the slides so everyone had a chance to explain our project. From that point, we then practiced until every group member was familiar with all the information and data we collected and we were all comfortable with our roles. Once day of our presentation, the process ran smoothly and we were very organized when it came to clicking through the slides, pointing out the pictures, and answering the questions. I think the additional practice really helped our group be more confident and prepared for our presentation.
Overall, this project ran very smoothly. Although there were certain troubling points, our group was able to have a successful presentation. One issue that was present was the fact of unreliable WiFi. Being unable to access the internet made it difficult to open emails and download pictures that were needed for our PowerPoint. The majority of the time, we would walk to the library and use those computers, but even then, we would have problems with logging in the correct account and opening the right documents. This teaches us to be prepared for unexpected delays; not everything will reach our expectations and we should be ready for these cases. This ties into communicating. During the course of this project, several at home materials were needed to build our prototype. When a person was absent during the assembly of our final product, it was very important to contact them based on the information we learned that day, tasks we resolved to accomplish in the following days, and anything else that may have changed.
One successful aspect of this project was the perseverance our group maintained through out the thought process. This means that at times, our focus was kept even though there were challenging parts of constructing our PowerPoint. We were very committed to our idea and I feel like we exemplified our ideals. I believe it is very important to help save people's lives, especially when they have no available option for rescue; this was highlighted in our presentation and I hope it inspired others to act in order to help those in need.
Another flourishing part of our project was our preparation. Leading up to the presentation, our group dedicated an extra hour after school to running through our PowerPoint. We split the speaking parts equally and divided the slides so everyone had a chance to explain our project. From that point, we then practiced until every group member was familiar with all the information and data we collected and we were all comfortable with our roles. Once day of our presentation, the process ran smoothly and we were very organized when it came to clicking through the slides, pointing out the pictures, and answering the questions. I think the additional practice really helped our group be more confident and prepared for our presentation.