Senior Design I and
Engineering Orientation
In the circumference of a circle the
beginning and end are common
Heraclitus of Ephesus
In the circumference of a circle the
beginning and end are common
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Engineering Orientation
The specialization areas and
professional organizations for
engineers
1) How an engineer plans and
completes a project
Basic computer tools used by
engineers
2) How to write a technical
report
3) How to prepare and give an
effective oral presentation
4) How to work effectively within
a team
5) Professional Ethics
Importance of Lifelong learning
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Senior Design
Beginning of the Major Design
Experiment
5) Professional Ethics,
3) Oral Communications,
1) Project Feasibility Study,
2) Proposal Writing,
1) System Design Methodology,
Human Factors,
Intellectual Property,
Liability and Schedules.
4) Teamwork
The Senior Design Project Requirements
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Senior Design Projects are illstructured.
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Because their solutions cannot normally be
found by applying mathematical formulas or
algorithms in a routine or structured way.
Mathematics is both useful and essential in
engineering design, but much less so in the
early stages when “formulas” are both
unavailable and inapplicable.
The Senior Design Project Requirements
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Senior Design Projects are open-ended.
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Because they usually have several
acceptable solutions. Uniqueness, so
important in many mathematics and
analysis problems, simply does not apply to
design solutions. In fact, more often than
not designers work to reduce or bound the
number of design options they consider lest
they be overwhelmed by the possibilities.
The Senior Design Project Requirements
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Senior Design Projects are new.
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You need to design something that, to the
best of your knowledge, is new or is a new
approach to a previous design.
Doesn’t that mean that somehow you
need to be inventors?
Motivations for inventors
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Necessity
Curiosity
Challenge of Unsolved Problems
To Discover a New Technology
Monetary Rewards
When Do Inventors Invent?
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Probably the best answer to this question is:
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They invent at the same days an hours that the
Sales People sale:
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All the Time!
It is not that you need to be in a tedious
monotone career.
It means that there is no predetermined
schedule for Creativity or Opportunities
Some Myths about Inventors
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In order to invent you need to be mature
Myth: If somebody patents first you loose
your invention
If you patent your invention you are safe
The team did it I want my share
Most successful inventors have years of
experience in their fields
In order to invent you need to have a lot of
resources
Some Myths about Inventors
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Myth: In order to invent you
need to be mature
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George Westinghouse, at
age 19, obtained his first
patent, for a rotary steam
engine.
1824 When Louis Braille
was 15 years old, he
developed an ingenious
system of reading and
writing by means of raised
dots. Today, in virtually
every language throughout
the world, Braille is the
standard form of writing and
reading used by blind
people.
Some Myths about Inventors
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Myth: In order to invent you
need to be mature
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1642 The mechanical adding
machine was invented by a
nineteen year old French boy
named Blaise Pascal .
1648 Anton van Leeuwenhoek
is best known for his work on
the improvements of the
microscope, at the age of 16.
2005 Taylor Hernandez, age
10, invented "Magic Sponge
Blocks," large building blocks
made from sponge that can
safely stack high without worry
that they could fall and hurt a
child.
Some Myths about Inventors
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Myth: In order to invent you need to be mature
Philo Farnsworth
In 1922 a 14-year-old farm boy
first sketched an idea for his
science teacher…"What has
this got to do with Chemistry?"
Tolman asked. "I've got this
idea," Farnsworth calmly
replied. "I've got to tell you
about it because you're the
only person I know who can
understand it." The boy
paused and took a deep
breath. "This is my idea for
electronic television.“
"Television?" Tolman said,
"What's that?"
Some Myths about Inventors
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Myth: If somebody patents first you loose
your invention
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The U.S. has a “first to invent” policy regarding
invention, meaning that the first originator of an
invention receives credit for it.
The first person to patent an invention will not
receive credit unless they were also the first to
invent it.
The presumption is that the first to reduce to
practice is the first to invent
Some Myths about Inventors
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Myth: If somebody patents first you loose your
invention
How to Prove the Idea Is Yours
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Use a Notebook with consecutively numbered and
permanently bound pages
Put your ideas in writing completely and accurately. Fully
describe the invention in words and pictures.
Date all your Entries and write with pen.
Do not remove or skip pages
The notebooks should be witnessed weekly by two
knowledgeable people you trust which are not relatives of
you
Don’t wait too long, this might change soon
Some Myths about Inventors
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If you patent your invention you are safe
Patent rights are based on claims of the
patent.
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What is protected is the invention as claimed.
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Infringer is accused of infringing the claims of a patent.
Some Myths about Inventors
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If you patent your invention you are safe
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Netflix claims it is, and is suing Blockbuster for patent
infringement for allegedly copying its seven-year-old online
movie-rental business method. Netflix Inc. v. Blockbuster
Inc., No. C 06 2361 (N.D. Calif.)
But Blockbuster is countersuing, claiming that Netflix is
trying to monopolize the online movie-rental industry and
stifle competition. Blockbuster also alleges that Netflix
obtained its patents fraudulently by failing to disclose
pertinent information to the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. Blockbuster also argues there is nothing original
about renting videos online in the first place.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1157629869
643
Some Myths about Inventors
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If you patent your invention you are safe
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Only if there were no flaws in your application
Only if you have the financial muscle for the fight
It could be wise to get a partner for your
patent but, be careful
Some Myths about Inventors
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The team did it I want my share
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If each had a share in the ideas forming the invention as
defined in the claims – even if only as to one claim, they
are joint inventors and a patent will be issued to them
jointly on the basis of a proper patent application.
If, on the other hand, one of these persons has provided all
of the ideas of the invention, and the other has only
followed instructions in making it, the person who
contributed the ideas is the sole inventor and the patent
application and patent shall be in his/her name alone.
Some Myths about Inventors
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Most successful inventors
have years of experience in
their fields
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One Saturday morning in 1993,
when she was eight years old,
Abigail M. Fleck and her father,
Jonathan, were cooking bacon
in their St. Paul, Minnesota
home. Inspired by an offhand
comment from her father,.
Abbey Fleck invented a new,
quicker and healthier way to
cook bacon, then founded a
company to sell her product,
The Makin' BaconŒ.
http://www.ideafinder.com/features/class
act/young.htm
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1721 In 1721, Benjamin Franklin at the age of 15, was busily occupied in delivering
newspapers by day and in composing articles for it at night. These articles, published
anonymously, won wide notice and acclaim for their pithy observations on the current
scene.
At the age of 15, Cyrus Hall McCormick invented a lightweight cradle for carting harvested
grain. Seven years later, in 1831 he invented the reaper, a horse drawn farm implement to
cut small grain crops.
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1830 Henry Bessemer produced his first invention at the age of seventeen--embossed
stamps for use on title deeds. At that time, the British government was losing thousands of
pounds in revenue each year through the illegal reuse of title stamps. Bessemer's invention
made the crime impossible and earned him his first job.
1862 When he was 15 years old Thomas Alva Edison published a weekly newspaper,
printing it in a freight car that also served as his laboratory. While working as a telegraph
operator, he made his first important invention, a telegraphic repeating instrument.
1865 Since the age of 18, Alexander Graham Bell had been working on the idea of
transmitting speech. While working on a multiple telegraph, he developed the basic ideas
for the telephone.
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1873 At age 17, Chester Greenwood applied for a patent. For the next 60 years, Greenwood's factory
made earmuffs. Greenwood went on to create more than 100 other inventions.
1921 Philo Farnsworth a 14-year-old had an idea while working on his father's Idaho farm. Philo realized
an electron beam could scan a picture in horizontal lines, reproducing the image almost instantaneously.
It would prove to be a critical breakthrough, towards electronic television.
1930 At 16 yrs. old, George Nissen finished high school and set out to develop a bouncing
apparatus(trampoline). Working in his parents’ garage using steel materials he found at a junkyard, he
built a rectangular frame with a piece of canvas stretched across it. It was an instant hit Nissen was sure
he could commercialize it.
1958 As a 17-year-old high school junior, Robert Heft found himself in need of a class project. His
proposed 50 star American Flag idea was initially turned down by the teacher. He went ahead and
finished his project, receiving a B minus for his efforts. Heft's teacher compromised and promised to
deliver a better classroom grade if he could get the U.S. Congress to accept his flag. The rest is history.
1972 Rebecca Schroeder from Toledo, Ohio, USA was ten when she became an inventor. Becky got a
patent for her invention in 1974; she was on television and won awards for it. She improved upon the
idea over the next few years eventually calling it the Glo-Sheet. The Glo-Sheet has been used in many
places. Doctors use them so they can check patient's notes in the dark without waking them up and the
US Navy and NASA have used them.
1993 One Saturday morning in 1993, when she was eight years old, Abigail M. Fleck and her father,
Jonathan, were cooking bacon in their St. Paul, Minnesota home. Inspired by an offhand comment from
her father,. Abbey Fleck invented a new, quicker and healthier way to cook bacon, then founded a
company to sell her product, The Makin' BaconŒ.
2000 "I called it a Batball because I can store my baseballs inside the bat and I like it. It's really cool.''
says Jacob Dunnack age 8.
http://www.derbymanagement.com/knowledg
e/pages/knowing/myths.html
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THE MYTHS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
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A fun new shoe store just opened its second location. The store could continue to do well with just a few locations, or it could
develop a new model or approach to shoe-selling that propels it to national prominence. In other words, it can evolve into a
successful small business or it can make the leap to an entrepreneurial growth company.
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According to a new report from the National Commission on Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial growth companies are
indistinguishable from small businesses until they enter a "growth" phase during which they are transformed into something
almost entirely different.
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Small companies that are able to "morph" into growth companies have a proposed product, service or distribution scehme
that boosts productivity. And while most small-business owners would be satisfied if the business prospers and provides a
steady stream of income and employment, most successful high-growth entrepreneurs aim to create a large, national or
multinational company and intend to do whatever is required to achieve that objective.
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Growth companies are often clustered around newly deregulated and emerging industry sectors such as
telecommunications, financial services, and, most obviously, information technology -- where potential productivity gains are
enormous. This is in contrast to the most popular small-business sectors, such as construction, retailing and cleaning
services.
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"Many fast-growing startups, in their earliest stages, often are indistinguishable from small businesses. Once these startups
take off in their growth stage, that's where all similarities end. The challenge is to educate lawmakers about this key
difference, and fashion policies to better support these high-growth companies," NCOE Executive Director Patrick Von
Bargen said.
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The NCOE report, "Five Myths about Entrepreneurs: Understanding How Businesses Start and Grow," says initiatives
intended to aid entrepreneurs can be misdirected due to confusion about the true nature of entrepreneurial growth
companies.
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The five myths:
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1. The Risk-Taking Myth: "Most successful entrepreneurs take wild, uncalculated risks in starting their companies."
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Risk is an intrinsic part of any business venture. It is only later on in the development of the company, when the business
has created some real value, that entrepreneurs risk losing it all if they are to continue growing.
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2. The High-Tech Invention Myth: "Most successful entrepreneurs start their companies with a breakthrough invention -usually technological in nature."
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Having a breakthrough invention, a unique product or a radically new process is not a necessary element at the beginning of
most successful growth companies.
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There are exceptions, like Federal Express, which was started in the 1970s on the then-unheard of idea of creating a
worldwide system of transportation dedicated to providing overnight delivery of packages. But far more common are
entrepreneurial growth companies like Jiffy Lube, which brought moderate change and certainly marketable distinctions -but not "revolution" -- to the way we change our oil.
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3. The Expert Myth: "Most successful entrepreneurs have strong track records and years of experience in their industries."
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While founders of successful companies may become
knowledgeable and prominent in their field later on, early-stage
growth companies are just as likely to be started by relative
amateurs with little background experience in the field. A full 40
percent of Inc. 500 founders had no prior experience in the
industry they were entering, according to NCOE research.
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For example, Jann Wenner started Rolling Stone magazine when
he was just 21 and just out of college. Steve Wozniak, who
helped found Apple Computers, was an "undistinguished"
engineer at Hewlett-Packard when he built the first Apple
computer. John Katzman was a part-time tutor at Hunter College
in New York when he founded the Princeton Review, a testpreparation and tutoring company.
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4. The Strategic Vision Myth: "Most successful
entrepreneurs have a well-considered business plan
and have researched and developed their ideas
before taking action."
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Strategic planning and research are in fact
hallmarks of the later stages of development, rather
than a necessary initial ingredient. For many
startups, extensive research and planning are often
both unnecessary and financially impossible. At this
early stage, adaptiveness is much more important
than a thorough, rationalized decisionmaking
process.
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5. The Venture Capital Myth: "Most successful entrepreneurs start their
companies with millions in venture capital to develop their idea, buy
supplies, and hire employees."
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Venture capital is dominant in some industry sectors -- biotech, some
high-tech startups, Internet -- where capital requirements force
companies to skip the early growth stages. But it -- or any other type of
formal financial support -- is surprisingly uncommon among most
successful entrepreneurial growth companies at their early stages of
development. In 1999, for example, fewer than 4,000 of the roughly
700,000 new businesses created were venture capital-funded. That
means that less than 1 percent of all new businesses were backed by
venture capital.
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Even Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft, failed to secure
venture capital when they started their company in 1975. And
networking giant Cisco Systems was initially financed from the personal
savings and borrowings of its two founders.
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Square-Bottom Paper Bag
Margaret Knight (1838-1914) of Boston is credited
with about 90 inventions and 22 patents. Her
patents covered textile and shoe-making machinery,
domestic devices, and even a "sleeve-valve"
automobile engine. Knight's greatest success,
however, was the first machine to make the squarebottomed paper bags. Others had been trying to
develop such a machine for years, since the
envelope-shaped bags then used were narrow and
flimsy.
Myth: In order to invent you
need to have a lot of resources
References
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Excerpts from the book “Engineering Design, a
Project Based Introduction”, second edition by Clive
I. Dym and Patrick Little. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
ISBN 0-471-25687-0
Excerpts from The book “The Book of Inventions”
Ian Harrison, National Geographic Society
http://www.ideafinder.com/features/classact/young.h
tm
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http://www.derbymanagement.com/knowledge/pages/knowing
/myths.html
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http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/fleck.html