THE ALTA VISTA ENGINEERING COMPANY
Alta Vista Team members
Ayesha Tariq
Emina Helja
Fadheela Nasser
10/21/2010
Hadeel Al Shami
Hadel Yousef

Introduction:

Project overview:
Disabled children possess the same natural desire to play and use their creativity as non-disabled children, but they do not possess equal opportunities. Today's interest in providing disabled children with equal opportunities of accessible playgrounds is unprecedented. The reason behind this lies in the acquired understanding of the nature of play and its importance in children's cognitive, social, language, and motor development. Researchers on play and its importance including psychiatrists, biologists, psycho biologists, primatologists, educators, psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and anthropologists, conclude that play isn't mere fun. [1] Play ensures that children of all abilities gain emotional and mental mastery provides the groundwork for development of creative thinking. In addition , play initiates and promotes cognitive development , leads to discoveries about one’s own body and its capabilities, reasoning, manipulative skills, and improves problem solving .Moreover, the playground offers children different ways to find themselves through trial and error and this is how they learn and succeed in their future lives [1]. It also provides them with an opportunity to branch out of their comfort zone, test things out, and experiment with new habits, behaviors and traits. It gives them a chance to take a deep breath and find the courage to dive in and let go of mistakes [1]. It is for this reason that our team of engineers aims to successfully complete this challenging project and develop an inclusive, innovative playground design that will be made accessible to both disabled and normal children all the while satisfying the requirements of the Special Care Center Committee.
After conducting further research and gathering sufficient data for the assigned project from the client statement and the clarification letter received, we were able to develop a better understanding of the problem and begin our project planning. While identifying the project objectives and constraints, our main task which is to design a safe, affordable, durable, and educational inclusive playground that is accessible to children of all abilities was made clear.
The three parties involved in this project are your committee, the students and our engineering corporation “Alta Vista”. Amongst the mentioned parties two are

stakeholders, your committee and the students. The playground will be designed on the needs and requirements of the stakeholders. Such needs and requirements will be integrated into our design in order to provide the required various aspects of development for the students of the Special Care Center. In this report, we will mainly provide you with a clear insight into our planned project management and set communication expectations, identifying the tasks that need to be completed to successfully carry out the project, setting the deadlines for these tasks and setting a rough estimate for the budget to give you a notion of how much resources will be spent.

The scope
Having a clear understanding of the scope of the project is essential, as it clarifies what is and what is not going to be done. However, this is a difficult process, as there can be several different acceptable outcomes which might not be recognized until the project is under construction. The scope illustrates the characteristics of the product design. In our design of the playground, the requirements are inclusiveness, safety, durability, affordability, educationally-designed, rehabilitation and variability.

The Budget
The budget includes all resources that are utilized in the project such as time for weekly status meetings, travel to and from the client’s site, creation of status reports, phone calls, e-mail, human capital, and financial resources. Resources whether time or money should be managed effectively to achieve a successful design. A rough estimate for the budget will be decided on after indicating the number of days that will be spent on the project. A cost benefit analysis of the device will be included in the design to ensure that the product is cost effective in terms of being affordable and inexpensive to produce. By providing this analysis we can also ensure that this device will possess market competitiveness.
The cost of each team member’s contributions has been assigned according to their qualifications and previous experience. The table below illustrates each team member's service cost per hour and qualifications.

Team member
Hadel Yousef
Hadeel Al
Ayesha Tariq
Emina Helja
Shami
Fadheela
Nasser
Salary per hour
400 AED per hour
400 AED per hour
400 AED per hour
400 AED per hour
400 AED per hour
Qualifications and Experiences
Along with her engineering degree, she has good experience with disabled children. She was always interested in doing researches about different engineering designs that are suitable for disabled children.
She is an expert in designing playgrounds and varying equipments for disabled children. She was a part of the team that designed
Sheikh Khalifa’s playground for disabled children.
She is an expert in designing playground equipments. She worked on planning the equipments for several important playgrounds in the Gulf region. Moreover, She conducted a variety of research on disabled people and studied their attitudes and disabilities.
She has leadership skills that will help in organizing the team’s work and in getting things done in a timely and effective way.
Graduated with honors from the University of Manchester and has ever since worked as a recreation advocate and playground and park consultant for different world-class European companies including Aile Amusement Factory . In addition, she has a great interest in sports medicine and has written several journal articles about the compatibility of children’s abilities to playground designs.
She is a playground safety expert. She also has a wide experience in designing playground equipments.
Moreover, an estimate of the budget is provided in the table below:

 Statement of project deliverables
The main deliverable of this project is a design of an inclusive playground. The other deliverables and their deadlines will be discussed with detail throughout.
Project management

Team members and key skills/experience
It is our commitment to quality engineering and designing and exceptional customer service that has and will continue to remain the cornerstone of our success.
AltaVista's priority is clear; we find it our social duty to meet the quality expectations of the Special Care Centre in a timely manner and at a fair price and to draw a smile on the faces of your students. What enables us to state this with utter confidence is due to our team members individual skills. Their individual skills are listed below.
Ayesha Tariq khalil : A Bachelor in Chemical engineering from the Petroleum Institute. She is specialized in polymers and renewable environmentally friendly materials. She possesses mathematics, science, and engineering skills, and the abilities to apply them to solve engineering problems, to design and conduct experiments and interpret data, to design a component or system within realistic constraints, to identify, formulate and solve engineering problems, to use modern engineering tools, and to function in teams.
Furthermore, she is skilled in using SolidWorks 2009 and possesses creativity in sketching and designing.
Emina Helja: Bachelor’s in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of
Manchester and in Physical Therapy Degree from the Medical School of Sarajevo.
Possesses profound interpersonal skills in leadership, communication, and teamwork , in-depth knowledge of her specific field of engineering ,an extensive experience in the industry, a wide range of soft skills , flexibility for teamwork and individual work, and a comprehensive understanding of individual and professional ethics.

Fadheela: A Bachelor in Mechanical engineering from the Petroleum Institute. She is specialized in playground safety, as well as developing, planning, and designing playground equipments. Moreover, she possesses profound skills in problem solving, creativity, hands-on-understanding, knowledge management, and people skills. Expert in using SolidWorks 2009 which enables our company to design faster, communicate our ideas, and create higher quality designs at a lower cost.
Hadeel AlShami: A Bachelor in Chemical engineering from the Petroleum Institute.
She is recognized for her hard work and deadlines’ meeting and is fully capable of working under pressure and time constrains. Furthermore, she possesses managing, planning, designing, experimenting, data interpreting, and problem solving skills. She can use technical engineering tools effectively. Besides, she has profound communication and social attributes.
Hadel Yousef: A Bachelor in Chemical engineering from the Petroleum Institute. She is recognized for her hyperactivity in getting the job done. Moreover, she possesses designing, problem solving and data interpreting skills. She is also expert in using computer programs such as SolidWorks 2009.

Plan of attack
An excellent design results from careful thought about what clients and users want.
Moreover, it relies heavily on how us – the designers- articulate and realize design requirements. Our company “Alta Vista” strives to meet your demands. In doing so, we would like to present to you the way our design plan is going to proceed. There are five stages in the design process: problem definition, conceptual design, preliminary design, detailed design, and design communication. In this report, we will focus on three important stages among the ones mentioned: problem definition, conceptual design, and design communication as illustrated in the Work Breakdown structure format (WBS). This format is used to clarify the tasks needed to complete the design process.


Problem definition:
This is the most crucial stage in engineering design. During it, we frame the problem by clarifying your objectives and gather the information needed to develop an unambiguous statement of your wishes, needs, and limits. Referring to the client’s statement, the main functional requirement is to build a playground that is fully accessible and usable by disabled children. In addition, much of your emphasis is placed on the educational development of the child while enjoying playtime.
This stage covers four subtasks which include clarifying both the design’s and project’s objectives, establishing metrics for objectives, identifying constraints, and revising the clients’ problem statement.
Clarify objectives:
Clarifying the objectives and translating them into the right language are essential elements of our design. In constructing the playground for the disabled, the project’s objectives are safety, reliability and affordability. Furthermore, we need to assure that it is suitable for both able, disabled and the other children of the unprivileged families as well in order to enhance their communication and learning skills. After clarifying the objectives, we have to organize them using an objective tree which is an ordered list of the desired attributes of a design.
Ranking the objectives using a pair wise comparison chart is the step to follow. It is a method for ranking the design goals against each other in order to understand their order of importance. We believe safety is the central goal to achieve among the others.
Establish metrics for objectives:
Metrics are standards that will be developed by us to measure the extents to which design objectives are realized. We will determine the appropriate, clear units with which to make the measurement and make sure they are cost effective.
Eventually, these metrics are going to aide us in choosing among alternative designs in a later stage of the design process. Having safety, reliability and cost efficiency as our top priorities, we will ensure that they are met by everything concerning the project such as the playground layout, materials used and facility placement handicap.

Identify constraints:
Constraints are strict limits that a design must meet. They are extremely important to us because if violated, the design is simply unacceptable. As far as we conclude from the client’s statement, there are three constraints: Children’s abilities, budget and time. These constraints will help us to estimate the project’s scope and write you a contract that will account for any situations that may arise.
Revise client’s problem statement:
Revising the client’s statement through our letter of understanding was aimed to achieve a better understanding of the problem that is shared by you and Alta
Vista. It resulted from the clarification of the original problem statement. We have done so by asking questions and brainstorming among the skilled team members of Alta Vista. We proposed that the playground’s design will be intended to offer balance between education and physical challenges. Moreover, the assets and components of the playground must meet the project’s objectives in order to enhance the health, learning, and well being of children.

Conceptual design:
In the conceptual design stage we will generate concepts and schemes of design alternatives and acceptable designs. There are six subtasks in this stage as described below:
Establish functions:
Functions are actions that a successful design must perform. For instance the function of the playground is to allow children with special needs to play, learn and interact with other children to the widest range. Our main concern is to achieve the intended function with the highest percentage of success.
Establish requirements:
The design requirements, which are often called design specifications, are engineering statements of the functions that must be exhibited and the attributes that must be displayed by a design. As mentioned previously in this report, the main requirement is to create a playground that will be fully accessible to children with varying disabilities. This has to be done for the design to achieve its function and be chosen as a successful design.

Establish means for functions:
Means or implementations are ways of executing those functions that the design must perform. There are means for acquiring information and they include literature reviews, brainstorming, user surveys, questionnaires and structured interviews. Moreover, there are means for acquiring and processing design knowledge, analyzing information, testing outcomes and obtaining feedback. We will always keep in mind that the means used should achieve the functions of the design in the most efficient, time saving and affordable way. In other words, we will maintain the project’s constraints in focus regarding the different means to be used.
Generate design alternatives:
In this step we will use a morphological chart to generate a design space. The design space is where design alternatives or candidates for the playground design are found. It is an intellectual space that envelopes all of the potential solutions to our design problem. In addition, the design space will give us a sense of the design’s space‘s size.
Refine and apply metrics to design alternatives:
It is important that we ensure that the measurements of the achievements of all the objectives of a design alternative be made consistently, on the same scale.
This has to be done so that some objectives do not dominate the overall assessments by virtue of being measured on scales that awarded more points than earned by other objectives.
Choose a design:
As a outcome of following the previous steps, we will choose a final design. This design would have met the objectives, achieved the desired function successfully and acquired a high score measured using the specified metrics.

Design communication:

This is the final stage we will go through at the end of the design process. During it we will document the fabrication specifications and their justification using the proposed design and design details. Finally, we will present final written, oral reports to you containing a description of the design process, drawings and design details and fabrication specifications.
A successful design does not just happen. Moreover, one of the important elements of achieving a successful design is managing the project. In order to handle all aspects in this project we will be using a couple of management tools.

Project management tools
Basic project management tools will be implemented to manage the design project to allow a smooth running of the project. The tools that will be utilized for time management include a project schedule and a Gantt chart that will guarantee that deadlines are met. A linear responsibility chart will also be used to ensure that the workload is distributed fairly and equitably as well as a Percent Complete
Matrix that will aid in the monitoring of the team’s progress. Other tools will also be utilized such as the Work Breakdown Structure tree that will identify all the tasks to be completed for the design project.

The WBS (work breakdown structure):
In this stage of the project management design, a Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS) will be used. It is defined as a hierarchical diagram that breaks into subdivisions. It follows the formal design process as it provides the full lists of tasks that are needed to be tackled for our project, as illustrated in Figure 1 in the Appendix.

Gantt Chart
After dividing the work among team members a Gantt chart was prepared as an effective method of organizing tasks and presenting them clearly along with their deadlines. The time required to accomplish each task is calculated in minutes to help estimate the total budget needed.
It can be seen from the schedule the days needed to complete the tasks and sub tasks. (See Figure 2 in the Appendix)


Linear responsibility chart
The project has been divided in to a number of steps. The tasks were allocated in accordance with each member’s skills. It is required of all team members to get involved in all tasks to be certain that everyone understands the project fully. This prevents any fissure throughout the project steps. The tasks allocations are shown in the linear responsibility chart (see Figure 3 in the
Appendix). The linear responsibility chart presents the tasks we will complete and each member's responsibilities in each task to run the project effectively.
We used numbers in the chart to represent the duties of each member in each task.

Project tracking
For a successful progression in this project, the team has to be aware of where they are in the project, what had been completed, what is in the process of completion and what needs to be completed. An effective tool that will be used in order to help the team track their progress is the Percent Complete matrix (See Figure 4 in the Appendix).
Nothing flows continuously without any resistance or problems that might slow or disturb its flow. For every project, problems should and must arise to disturb its flow and continuity. However, our team has predicted some of the major issues that might arise and are more than ready to face them.

Solutions to Anticipated Problems
Design Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, we, the engineers of AltaVista strive to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. We possess a clear understanding of the direct and vital impact engineering and designing has on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by AltaVista integrate honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, with an ultimate dedication to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.
Constantly performing under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct, AltaVista engineers are under an oath to acknowledge their errors, to not alter any facts, and to advice their clients and employers when they face project problems. Consequently, we declare that

solutions to all anticipated problems will hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the Special Care Center children and their families.
The only major problem that we anticipated facing was the possibility of the relatively low budget not being equivalent to our costs. The solution to this problem lies in the owner and principal consultant of AltaVista, Mr.Vladimir DeMello. After the birth of his daughter Lani DeMello with intellectual disabilities and a heart condition, doctors told him "just take her home; she's never going to achieve anything." Today, Lani is a medalist in rhythmic gymnastics. The way she got to be so good at her chosen sport is by being given the opportunity to be active, to build muscles, and to be just like everyone else. Mr. Vladimir DeMello is dedicated to give the same opportunity to disabled children in Abu Dhabi. With an adapted and accessible playground, children will get their first taste of these things, and they'll grow up liking to be active instead of being content with doing nothing. Playground equipment is a wonderful stimulus for both body and mind and its realization will be enabled by the generosity of
Mr.DeMello who has been a donator for Special Olympics Programs in the United
States since 2008 and is willing to finance 50 % of all costs for this project.
Furthermore, inadequate surfacing , playground materials not suitable for the climate and several other issues make some playgrounds a safety hazard. Adverse impacts of these hazards occur in the short and long term. For instance a significant number of short term impacts arise from accidents during play resulting from falls. The severity of this specific sort of injury depends, in part, on the height of the playground equipment and the ability of the surface underneath to cushion and slow the fall and in turn prevent severe injuries. As we have observed in the past, some playgrounds are built very close to asphalt and concrete and others that have wood fibers offering a softer landing have had the thickness of the surface erode to poor weather conditions and heavy usage. These concerns and the dedication to prevent problems of this nature re-occurring is driving our design to be adapted for the usage of specific equipments and materials that will enhance the safety of the playground and provide families and their disabled children with a safe environment that maximizes the social and educational benefits of playground play. To ensure safety after the completion of

our design we will also be in close collaboration with the manufacturer of children’s playground equipment until the playground is built and ready to draw smiles on those children’s faces.
Finally, the project’s tasks plan execution is designed with high efficiency in order to provide us with sufficient contingency time to professionally analyze and solve any issues that may arise.
It is our commitment to quality engineering and designing and exceptional customer service that has and will continue to remain the cornerstone of our success.
AltaVista's priority is clear. We find it our social duty to meet the quality expectations of the Special Care Centre in a timely manner and at a fair price and to draw a smile on the faces of your students. Thus we emphasize that you can place your trust in our engineering design and in our profound abilities to solve any problems arising in during and after the design process.
Conclusion
The Special Care Centre is well-aware and so are we, AltaVista Engineering
Company, that education is not merely developing the minds of the disabled children but it also upholds that all aspects of children’s needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. Furthermore, the child's own strengths, resources and coping skills should be reinforced to result in health and wellness on a long-term basis. Our contribution to this continuous process of development lies in designing and building a playground for the Special Care Centre’s new campus whose features would assist disabled children to develop and enhance their motor and physical skills, concentration, agility, and dexterity and enrich their learning in emotional , social , and cognitive developmental areas.
We are proud to be presented with a chance of bringing this project. If given the approval to commence with our project we look forward to working with you to accomplish a common goal which is providing your students with an extraordinary accessible playground where children, with and without disabilities, can develop essential life skills as they learn together through play.

References:
[1] Vaira, Douglas, "More than just a place to play: on the playground, children play games that can prepare them for the rest of their lives." April, 1, 2009, Parks &
Recreation, [Online].Available: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/More+than+just+a+place+ to+play%3A+on+the+playground,+children+play...-a0198713369 , [Accessed Oct, 3, 2010].

Appendix:
Understand Customer
Requirements
Clarify Project
Statement
Background
Research
Research consumer
Needs
Analyze Function
Requirements
Function Analysis
Brainstorm on
Function
Develop Function
Mean Tree
Draft
Objectives Tree
Interviewing
Experts
Develop Initial
Means Set
Decide on at least one more method
Review the client's statement
Review Objectives
Tree/constraints
Brainstorming session
Figure 1, Work Breakdown structure (WBS)
Generate
Alternatives
Brainstorm ideas
Develop
Morph Chart
Generate
Functions List
Match Means
Options to Function
Compile List of
Feasible Alternatives
Evaluate
Alternatives
Develop Weights
For Objectives
Pairwise
Comparison
Review Results
With Client
Apply Weights to Alternatives
Select Among
Alternatives
Make initial
Selection
Review with Client
Document Design
Process
Draft Final
Report
Review with
Client
Final Report/Poster
Project Management
Activities
Development of
Project Plans
Monitoring Progress
DRS using Google
DOC &PCM
Weekly
Meetings
Progress Reports
For Client

Gantt Chart
Figure 2, Gantt chart

Linear Responsibility Chart
1.0 Understand Customer
Requirements
1.1 Clarify Problem Statement.
1.2 Conduct Research
1.3 Develop Objectives Tree
1.31 Draft Objectives Tree
1.32 Review w/Client
1.33 Review Objectives Tree
Ayesha Hadeel Emina Fadheela Hadel Client
Representative
1
External
Consultant
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
3
4
3
5
6
4
4
4
4
2 2 1 2 2 4 3 2.0 Analyze Function
Requirements
3.0 Generate Alternatives
4.0 Evaluate Alternatives
4.1 Weight Objectives
4.2 Develop Test Protocol
4.3 Conduct Test
4.4 Report Test Results
5.0 Select Preferred Design
6.0 Document Design Results
6.1 Design Specifications
6.2 Draft Final Report
6.3 Design Review w/Client
6.4 Final Report
7.0 Project Management
7.1 Weekly Meetings
7.2 Develop Project Plan
7.3 Track Progress
7.4 Progress Reports
4
5
6
3
6
6
1
2
1
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
5
1
2
2
1
2
5
2
2
5
5
1
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
5
5
5
1
1
5
2
5
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
3
3
4
4
Key:
1 = Primary responsibility 3 = Must be consulted 5 = Review
2 = Support/work 4 = May be consulted 6 = Final approval
Figure 3, linear responsibility chart

Tasks
Start Project
Planned
Duration
(Days)
0
5
Percent of
Total (%)
0
Clarify Project
Statement
Conduct Primary
Research
Draft Objectives
Tree
Review Objectives
Tree
Revise Objectives
Tree
Analyze Functions
20
5
3
2
10
2
9
2
2
1
11
Generate
Alternatives
Develop Weighted
Objectives
Develop Test
Protocol
Conduct Tests
Report Test
Results
Select Among
Alternatives
Document Design
Process
End Project
10
10
8
20
5
3
10
0
11
11
9
22
6
3
11
0
Total Days
Budgeted
111
Key: 0 = Not Started (No Credit)
1 = In Process (1/3 Credit)
2 = Completed (Full Credit)
Figure 4, percent complete matrix (PCM)
100%
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Status
(see key)
2
2
2
Credit (Days)
0.0
5.0
20.0
1.7
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
26.7