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Lecture 1 - Group Design Project

How to write a group design project

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19 views

Lecture 1 - Group Design Project

How to write a group design project

Uploaded by

lugayizibenjamin55
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

CIV 3206: GROUP Design Project

Lecture 1:
Introduction
Course content
 Introduction to group design project
 Fundamentals of research
 Report writing format and style
 Citation of references
 Plagiarism
 Research presentation – Oral presentation &
publication
Course Description

 The class will be divided into groups of about ten


students each, with a member of staff as the overall
coordinator, who will assign supervisors to each of the
groups.
 The groups will undertake a design project of an
engineering structure that is intended to improve the
quality of life in the environment from any of the fields
of civil engineering.
 They will then prepare a design report in a specified
format and make an oral presentation to members of
staff.
Purpose of the Course

 The overall objective of the course is to expose


students to the engineering design process by
assisting them to work in groups and assigning
individuals responsibility and ensure they meet
targets.
 Working in groups will enable students to
maximize on their strengths, learn tolerance,
allocation of tasks, meeting targets and
compiling a report
Purpose of the Course

 The course aims to assist students to plan and


better execute their design projects.
 It addresses the essential concerns of the
structure, conduct and reporting of project
research that includes proposal preparation,
research methodology, report writing and
presentation.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course the students should be:
 able to work in groups, assign responsibilities and meet targets
 learn patience, tolerance and teamwork
 able to identify an engineering problem and prepare a proposal
 able to collect data and review existing relevant literature
 able to propose alternative solutions and select the best solution
to a problem
 able to prepare a preliminary design of a engineering structure
 able to prepare approximate bills of quantities and cost
estimates
 able to prepare a design report and make oral presentations
Course management

• Course delivery methods:


Initial lectures and discussions

Course Assessment:
Project report = 70%
Oral presentation = 30%
Principal concerns in dealing with the
project
 Choosing a project
 Planning, executing and managing your project
 Documenting your project
 Assessment of your project
Fundamentals of research
 Research is a systematic approach or method
consisting of a problem, formulating objectives,
collecting facts and data, analyzing facts and
reaching certain conclusion.
 The aim of research is to contribute to
knowledge, so that we can add to the previous
state of knowledge.
 Research results have to be communicated
effectively (either through reports or articles,
oral/poster presentations) so that they can be
useful to the general community.
Two Vital Characteristics of Research
1. Systematic
Research is systematic, because it follows certain steps that are
logical in order. These steps are:
•Understanding the nature of problem to be studied and
identifying the related area of knowledge.
•Reviewing literature to understand how others have approached
or dealt with the problem.
•Collecting data in an organized and controlled manner so as to
arrive at valid decisions.
•Analyzing data appropriate to the problem.
•Drawing conclusions and making generalizations.
Two Vital Characteristics of Research
1. Systematic
Systematic characteristic of research
Problem Identification

Reviewing Information

Data Collection

Analysis

Drawing conclusions
Two Vital Characteristics of Research
2. Follows a scientific method
This means that it makes an integrated use of
Inductive and Deductive reasoning. This makes it
very useful for explaining and predicting
phenomena.
The basic assumption of the scientific method is
that every effect has a cause.
Two Vital Characteristics of Research
Inductive reasoning
–Construction of hypotheses from casual
observations and background knowledge.
–From the examination of these, the researcher
establishes certain expectations.
Deductive reasoning
–Reasoning out consequences or implications of
hypotheses followed by testing of the
implications and confirmation or rejection of the
hypotheses.
Qualities of a good research
 Originality/Novelty
 Contribution to knowledge
 Significance
 Technical soundness
 Critical assessment of existing work
Characteristics of good researchers
 Effective communicator
 Attentive to details
 Possesses integrity and honesty
 Ethical
 Accepting of valid criticism
 Address real-world issues
 Open-minded
 Common sense (sound judgment in practical
issues)
 Creative and inventive
Topic Selection
 Realize your expertize and limitations
 Focus on your breadth of knowledge first.
 Be specific about your topic, but flexible about
the scope
 Do not set rigid barriers regarding the topic
 Be prepared to revisit the topic selection if
needed.
Topic Selection (Cont.)
Three important things
1. It is a topic that strongly interests you

2. It’s creative

3. It is not too broad, (time, how many pages...?)


Possible real life project
Alternative 1: Building design project
 Survey the land
 Carryout geotechnical investigations
 Carryout design of structural components: roofs, slabs,
beams, columns, staircases, foundations, and shear walls
where applicable
 Produce detailed architectural drawings
 Produce detailed structural design drawings and bar
bending schedules at appropriate scales
 Produce bills of quantities
Possible real life project
Alternative 2: Road design and upgrading project
 Carryout topographic and geotechnical investigations
 Carryout geometric designs of the road
-Design of horizontal curve
-Design of vertical curve
 Carry out structural design of the road
-Calculate the total traffic
-Assign the traffic class to the road
-Establish the subgrade strength class
-Determine the stabilization material for the subgrade (for the
case of poor subgrade soils)
-Determine the layer thickness and material composition for the
subbase, base and wearing course
Possible real life project
Alternative 2: Road design and upgrading project Cont’d

 Design of drainage structures


-Design of longitudinal drainage structures: estimation of runoff
coefficient, catchment area, peak runoff, area and depth of drains
-Design of cross drainage structures, assessing existing culvert,
determination of peak discharge, carry out hydraulic design
 Carry an out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
 Produce a report including drawings
Possible real life project
Alternative 3: Water supply project
 Determine the water demand
 Design of water transmission facilities from source to treatment
plant
 Design of a simple water treatment system
 Design of transmission system from treatment plant to tank
 Design of tank/storage facilities
 Carry our Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
 Produce bills of quantities
 Produce a report including drawings
Possible real life project
Alternative 4: Excrete/Waste water system project
 Design of transmission facilities from source to treatment plant
 Design a sewerage network: house sewer, house connection,
lateral sewer, main sewer, or as appropriate for the system
chosen
 Design the chosen treatment system (Ecosan, VIP latrine, septic
tank, stabilization ponds, conventional system)
 Design outfall sewer
 Carry out Environmental Impact assessment
 Produce drawings
 Produce bills of quantities
Possible real life project (Cont’d)
Alternative 5: Solid Waste Management System Project
 Design of solid waste collection: source identification, sorting,
and separation system
 Design a waste recycle and reuse
 Design a waste transportation system
 Design a waste disposal system
 Design a leachate treatment system
 Carry out Environmental Impact assessment (EIA)
 Produce drawings
 Produce bills of quantities
Group design project report
Your final project report should consist of the following
components

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. Background
1.2. Problem statement
1.3. Research objectives (i.e Main objective & Specific objectives)
1.4. Significance of the study
1.5. Scope of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review


Group design project report (Cont’d)
Your final project report should consist of the following
components

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

Chapter 4: Results and Discussion

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations


End of lecture

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