Research and Design Methodology 27 September 2023
WBIE015-05
Block Ia, 2023/2024
Team-Based Learning Session II
Instructions
1. Please read carefully the enclosed file with the case to be used.
2. The assignment aims to design and draw a poster via the online application Google
Drawing with your own laptop or tablet. The team is allowed to use A1 paper and
markers. Such materials will be provided during the TBL session.
3. The table on the next page provides the link to the Google Drawing canvas to be used
per team.
4. The poster should contain the “conceptual” and the “technical” design stages of the
case.
5. In the poster, we expect to see tools to analyse the problem. The team can choose as
many tools as it wants, such as stakeholder analysis, the why-what model, the
Ishikawa diagram, the system diagram and its description, or any other considered
opportunely. Nonetheless, it is mandatory to include a system diagram and its
description in the poster based on the theory of (Enserink et al., 2023).
6. After the aforementioned problem analysis, a clear problem statement should be
given.
7. It is expected that in the poster, the proper selection of a research/design cycle and a
clear research framework.
8. A well-elaborated type of S.M.A.R.T. (or Ver-Doo) research objective is expected here.
9. A central question and sub-questions should be well-connected to the research
objective, the system, and the problem statement.
10. The methods and tools to answer the sub-questions should be included and defended
with literature.
11. A clear research planning should set the outline of the research.
12. The deliverable should be explicit, and it should be clear how it can be validated.
13. Once the poster is finished, download the PDF and upload it in the assignment
link of Brightspace. The deadline for submission is at 16:45.
Finally, you will be assessed on:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
Accuracy
Consistency
Quality of reasoning/logic
Adequacy
Critical attitude
Fact- and/or evidence-based
Table 1 Distribution of Google Drawing canvas per Teams for TBL II
Team
Link to the Google Drawing
Canvas
Zeus
TBL II Poster - Team Zeus
Hera
TBL II Poster - Team Hera
Juno
TBL II Poster - Team Juno
Jupiter
TBL II Poster - Team Jupiter
Poseidon
TBL II Poster - Team Poseidon
Neptune
TBL II Poster - Team Neptune
Apollo
TBL II Poster - Team Apollo
Ares
TBL II Poster - Team Ares
Ceres
TBL II Poster - Team Ceres
Demeter
Mars
TBL II Poster - Team Demeter
TBL II Poster - Team Mars
Athena
TBL II Poster - Team Athena
Minerva
TBL II Poster - Team Minerva
Hephaestus
Vulcan
TBL II Poster - Team Hephaes…
TBL II Poster - Team Vulcan
Optimising the Set-up of the H-Tech Inc. Public-hydrogen station
H-Tech Inc. is a company specialising in high-pressure applications. A few years ago, it
established its Hydrogen Technology branch to use its knowledge in high-pressure systems to
assist in the transition to a zero-emission mobility sector. The interest of H-Tech Inc. has
risen because the hydrogen industry regarding mobility is growing. Global warming is a
major threat to society, driven by global emissions of greenhouse gasses and human activities
in general. Together with the growing energy need and depletion of fossil fuel reserves, this
calls for drastic changes in the energy supply in all sectors. The transport sector accounted for
16.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, equal to 8 billion metric tonnes of CO2
equivalent.
Therefore, reducing this to zero eventually will help immensely in solving the climate
problem. A specific energy carrier with potentially widespread applications in transportation
and energy generation is hydrogen (H2). Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRSs) are
operational worldwide, of which a few are in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, its adoption is
still very much in its early phase. However, it shows potential due to several advantages, such
as low greenhouse emissions when production uses low-emission sources.
H-Tech Inc. offers the service of building HRSs for customers, using their existing knowledge
in high-pressure solutions. At first, they started developing the Fleet Owner Stations (FOS) as
a B2B solution for customers with a fleet of hydrogen vehicles to break through the high
investment barrier. They have also developed and implemented several public hydrogen
stations (PHSs), which are aimed at the public refuelling of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
A concept render of this version is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: A concept render of the public hydrogen station.
Despite the advantages, several hurdles need to be overcome to accelerate adoption. The cost
price of FCEVs for consumers should be decreased, but also for heavy-duty FCEVs.
Decreasing costs for a station is therefore crucial to further stimulate the growth of hydrogen
infrastructure and adoption of FCEVs, as this reduces dependency on government subsidies
and attracts private investors. Nevertheless, it is difficult to justify the figures. Current
calculations are performed with assumptions and estimations from engineers, and therefore,
the optimal set-up of the station is hard to validate.
Joanne Derkson is a development manager at H-Tech whose main focus is efficiency. She
wants to ensure that their engineers spend less time due to the research. Additionally, she
is aware that more and more companies are entering the renewable energy market and
that the need for using H2 in day-to-day life is increasing. Nevertheless, she is aware that
the costs of these technologies are high while the costs for the customers should be
decreased. Some topics that came up during a brainstorming session with her team were
digital twins and modularisation.
Alwin Chipmonk is the sales director and focuses on increasing the sales projection by
15%. He is sceptical about the use of technologies and fully trusts his colleagues, but is
aware that this research could help his sales team in the long run. Albert Onestone is the
lead engineer who desires an accurate tool so the engineers gain proper knowledge on
developing the PHS in the future. He would also like a proper system diagram and
description since this is currently absent.
Furthermore, Tomas Schelbie is pursuing a BSc in Industrial Engineering and
Management at the University of Groningen and is executing the project. His father,
Arturo Schelbie, works at a competitor, so the information must be handled confidentially.
However, he did give Tomas a tip to ensure that references support everything he creates.
Finally, Andrea de Fonollosa works at RenewMe, a leading agency in the renewable energy
industry, with expertise in every phase of wind, solar, and large-scale energy storage
projects. She is a potential customer of H-Tech.