Reference no: EM132497979

Unit 3: Engineering Project

Design Project

The purpose of this assessment:

Demonstrate your ability to carry out various tasks and manage your time efficiently in order to complete a chosen project from beginning to conclusion. You are also required to present the evidence of your progressive project work as indicated in the assessment brief, verbally and in writing, for assessment.

This unit will provide learners with opportunities to present their own solutions and should enable them to feel confident carrying out project work in their chosen engineering discipline.

Scenario
As an engineering technician you are given the responsibility of organising and managing a project which will include several ongoing tasks over a set period of time, and against a set specification. These may include any combination of subjects/ tasks which will require an appropriate process to be followed.

Tasks:

Identify and select a project

• The project chosen needs to be simple, if possible try and select something you know about, something related to a hobby or interest is a good place to start.

• Remember this is the vehicle that allows you to demonstrate that you can follow a project process procedure.

• Discuss your choice with your Tutor to establish its suitability for your project.

Assignment Task 1:

Prepare and maintain a Logbook / Diary as specified by your tutor

• This needs to be an on-going record of your tasks, decisions, and meetings, basically anything that has been undertaken towards your project.
• A week by week record of everything to do with your project.
• You can include mind map(P5) within this task. (See Assignment Task 5 a))

Assignment Task 2:

a) Produce a Project Proposal

This is based on the information that the customer has provided you with. It is a brief (short) description that you have taken from discussion with the customer. To achieve this, you should complete the "Project Proposal Form" attached to this Assessment Brief (Appendix 1).

b) Prepare a Project Specification

A specification details in technical terms how the final project outcome will conform. It should be written in terms of what is needed and when it is to be completed. It should be agreed with the customer, it can however be modified (changed) at a later date as long as it is justified and agreed by all parties. The specification should include:
• Introduction (a brief description of the overall project)
• Background (a brief description about other similar products/services to your own proposal)
• Proposed work (details of the main tasks to be carried out and list of expected outcome etc.)
• Project timeline (this could be done in the form of a table giving details of components, delivery time, person responsible for etc.)
• Conclusion (stating the significance of the project, and how it will impact or improve the end user's requirement

Note: the word processed evidence of your work for Assignment Task 2 must be saved electronically, and hard copies of the Project Proposal together with the Project Specification to be inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 3:

Agree and prepare the procedures

In small groups discuss and establish the procedure with which you consider you will need to follow in order to effectively identify the key elements of your project.

a) The evidence of discussion, mind maps, sketches etc. must be recorded in your logbook/diary.
b) The summary of your discussion with the list of key elements to be word processedand inserted in your portfolio.
c) To produce a flow chart of the sequence of your tasks (you can use MS Word, Excel, or Project) of your chosen procedure and insert it in your portfolio.

Note: The evidence of your work for Assignment Task 3 b) and c) must be saved electronically, and hard copies to be inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 4:
a) Identify potential solutions

1. Identify a range of ideas (must be minimum three ideas), each needs to be clearly explained using sketches and diagrams that are comprehensively explained by annotating the sketches.
2. A short written explanation to support your ideas.

b) Evaluate potential solutions

• For each idea (one at a time) establish whether or not an idea meets the criteria set out in the specification.

c) Select the best option

1. Develop a method that will show all the results of your evaluations (e.g. a chart/table that clearly shows each solution's details. This will also help you with Assignment Task 8 (P8)).

2. From your evaluation in part 1. above decide which idea should beadopted as your final project solution.

Note: all sketches, rough work etc. must be recorded in your logbook/diary. All word processed written explanations, tables, drawings etc. must be saved electronically and hard copies inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 4a:

Use a wide range of techniques and selection criteria to justify the chosen option

• This is in line with Assignment Task 4 c), but you will need to produce more detailed evaluation of your selected solution, i.e. throughout your project you will need to make choices about specific elements of your Assignment Task and there may be several options to solving these in which case you need to give explanation and justification to your final choice.

Note: your evaluations and justification must be word processed and saved electronically, with hard copy inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 5:

a) Outline the project solution
• Identify key areas, produce a mind map.
• Develop chosen key areas from your mind map, expand these to form the tasks you need to undertake and plan for.

b) Plan for your projects implementation
• Produce a Gantt chartbased on your specification's timeline (you can use MS Word, Excel, or Project) to present your tasks planning.

Note: your Gantt chart must be saved electronically, and a hard copy inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 6:

Monitor/record achievement throughout the project

• This is an integral part of recording your achievements throughout the time spent on the project, and is separate from your logbook/diary and Gantt chart. To achieve this pass criteria, you should:

1. Identify the milestones (objectives) from your Gantt chart.
2. Use each milestone as a topic.
3. Under each milestone, briefly explain the tasks carried out and the time spent to achieve that objective (you should be able to gather the information needed from your logbook).
4. For each milestone, compare the actual time taken to achieve the objective with the time allocated in your Gantt chart, if it was shorter or longer than the time allocated, briefly explain the reason/s.

Note: your word processed work for this Assignment Task must be saved electronically, and a hard copy to be inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 6a:

Maintain detailed, concurrent records throughout the project that clearly show progress made and difficulties experienced

• This Assignment Task is in line with Assignment Task 1 (P1), but the evidence for this criteria needs to demonstrate further details than just a logbook/diary entry. Therefore, evidence in the form of: - regular meetings(minutes), Emails, records of contacts, decisions made which show progress, detailing difficulties and how they were overcome must be included in your logbook/diary.

Note: to achieve this criteria, your logbook/diaryentries, as specified above, must be clear and easy to follow i.e. each entry clearly labelled and with date, key points identified, and with the summary of tasks undertaken for each topic.

Assignment Task 7:

Produce drawings for the project solutions

• This criterion requires evidence of what drawings you have producedand/or modified drawings (obtained from the manufacturer datasheet/s you may have collected throughout the process of completing your project).

Therefore, to achieve this criteria you should produce a comprehensive set of drawings that meet recognised standards, and providing sufficient information to enable your product to be manufactured.

Note: for this Assignment Task you should have a set of various drawings (e.g. hand drawn, CAD drawings, Googlesketch, modified manufacturer's drawings etc.) incorporated with BS symbols and to scale.

Assignment Task 8:
Check solution conforms to the specification

• Assess your final solution against your specification.Using a chart/table that shows whether you have or have not met the criteria set out in your specification.

Note: to achieve this criteria, you could produce a chart/table in line with the chart/table you produced in Assignment Task 4 c),showing the specification requirements against the chosen solution and check for the conformity of your solution.
Assignment Task 8 provides evidence for (P8)
Assignment Task 8a:

Evaluate the project solution and suggest improvements

• This Assignment Task can be undertaken by expanding your chart/table produced for Assignment Task 8.

• This can be achieved by assessing (evaluating) the value of your completed work against the specification. You may have had to compromise on specific criteria, if so discuss this and show why changes were made.

Assignment Task 9:

Deliver a presentation

• A presentation assessment sheet with the criteria to be met in your presentation is attached to this Assessment Brief (Appendix 2).

1. You will need to identify another student to complete the assessment sheet at the time of your presentation. Remember that this sheet forms the main evidence for completing your presentation.
2. Your presentation should last for ~ 10 minutes, using PowerPoint, Smart Board etc. circa 10 slides.

Note: your presentation PowerPoint etc. must be saved electronically, and a hard copy of your presentation together with a filled in presentation assessment sheet to be inserted in your portfolio.

Assignment Task 10:

Present your portfolio with a summary written project report

• The summary of your project work, from the initiation to completion, must be presented in the form of a management report, ~ 1000 words, effectively written and to be attached to your portfolio. Your written report and portfolio should be presented with the following format:

a) Written report
1. Brief introduction
2. Main body of the report (should be broken down into topics and subtopics)
3. Conclusion

b) Portfolio
1. Cover sheet
2. Contents page
3. Work referenced against the assessment criteria
4. Bibliography / Reference page
5. Pages numbered (this can be undertaken using a pen).
Note: Documents in your portfolio must be in Chronological (sequential) order, with the summary written report attached on top. You should also produce a cover sheet for your portfolio showing your name, course name, course code and the year.

Assignment Task 10a:

Present coherent and well-structured development records and final project report

• This Assignment Task is in line with Assignment Task 10 (P10), and not only requires that your final report is logically presented, all evidence is referenced against the set criteria, pages are numbered and all documentation is effectively written. It should also be of a high standard in presentation, neatness, spelling, with clear evidence of research and clear sources of references.

Assignment Task 11:

Independently manage the project development process, seeking support and guidance where necessary

• To achieve this criteria, your evidence will need to clearly show your total involvement, progressive development, and your control of the Assignment Task throughout the time allotted. You will have demonstrated an effective role throughout. To verify this, you will need to complete your own BTEC Observation Record Sheet for your tutor to sign and verify your independent work.

Note: BTEC Observation Record Sheet is attached to this Assessment Brief (Appendix 3).

Assignment Task 12:

Evaluate the whole project development process, making recommendations for improvements

• This is in line with Assignment Task 10 (P10), but you will need to establish criteria for a good development process so that you can evaluate your process for monitoring your project development. Therefore, as an attachment to your ~ 1000 words report in Assignment Task 10, you must evaluate the project development process and make recommendations for future improvements.

Attachment:- Engineering Project.rar