Scholarship & Research
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Item Relating design process to design outcomes in engineering capstone projects(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2003) Jain, Vikas KewalItem Developing predictive models for hand strength in dynamic grasping tasks based on static grip strength and anthropometric measures(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1995) Howell, Robert S.Item Design of experiment on electrical engineering design representations(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2004) Patel, Dipali Dhanji; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Durward K. Sobek IIOver the decades humans' need and desire for artifacts has increased in quantity, variety, and complexity. Consequently, quality and first to market have become the goals of many engineering firms. This in turn has put pressure on engineering education programs to produce professionals proficient and able to design quality products fast. Researchers have studied design from many different perspectives. One of the perspectives is the role of representations in design. Internal representations belong in our mental world while external representations are in our physical world. This thesis provides experimental evidence on the role of electrical engineering external representations on three design outcomes. The basis of this thesis is a framework developed by Goel (1995). Goel's framework of notationality classifies external representations into three categories: notational, discursive, and non-notational systems. Non-notational systems are essential for creativity because they encourage lateral transformations and discourage vertical transformations during design. Consequently, this improves design outcome because it encourages divergence and prevents premature convergence. Lateral and vertical transformations are cognitive movements between and within ideas respectively. This thesis attempts to test Goel's theory by performing a 23 factorial design experiment in the electrical engineering domain. The three factors are the three categories of external representations and the response variables are solution quality, productivity of design, and the number of ideas generated. This thesis also briefly explores transformations relation to outcome variables and representations. Analysis of variance technique with the data reveals that the use of non-notational and discursive systems increases solution quality and productivity of design. Use of notational systems increases the number of ideas generated, which contradicts Goel's (1995) theory. Lateral transformations are better correlated to quality than are vertical transformations. The experimental results indicate that use of a variety of external representations leads to better design outcomes, specifically representations of non-notational and discursive systems. Electrical engineering instructors may want to formally teach students to design by using non-notational and discursive systems and also re-consider their textbook selection criteria.Item Productive iteration in student engineering design projects(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2004) Costa, Ramon; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Durward K. Sobek IIIteration in design has different meanings, ranging from simple task repetition to heuristic reasoning processes. Determining productive iterations is important to improve the design process on cost, time, and quality, but currently there is no categorization of iterations conducive to this goal. After exploring the possible causes and attempts to address them, I propose to classify iterations as rework, design, or behavioral. The framework suggests that design teams, to improve productivity, should try to eliminate rework by increasing the resolution of design information (design iterations) without skipping design levels and by developing alternative solutions (behavioral iterations) in parallel before selecting one. Analysis of journal data from twelve student projects helps identify design processes that achieve higher quality in less time. Factor analysis groups common variability into factors. A multivariate linear regression model of three factors explains 91% of productivity variance within the study sample. Factor scoring coefficients are then used to translate the regression model coefficients back to activities and design levels. Results indicate that generating ideas and defining the problem at a system level are the key discriminating variables between more or less productive design teams in the sample, which supports the recommendation of increasing the resolution of design information without skipping intermediate levels. If we consider selecting an alternative for the final solution as the main design decision students make in the sample projects, then work on non-selected alternatives before selecting the final design can be used as a proxy for effort allocated to behavioral iterations. A linear model using work on non-selected alternatives shows that generating ideas at a system level relates to higher productivity while refining design details and evaluating existing design configurations associate with lower productivity. Then behavioral iteration relates to higher productivity only if alternatives are developed to the system level by generating ideas on how to address interface and configuration issues. The framework presented in this thesis helps differentiate between productive and less productive iteration patterns and provides guidelines to prevent rework by allocating more effort in productive iteration, namely behavioral and design iteration.Item A model for a human factors based design guidelines handbook for residential living environments for the elderly(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2005) Pendergast, Brian Daniel; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert J. MarleyThe elderly in America represent a significant and growing population. One relevant engineering aspect of an aging population is the suitability of residential environments for the independent-living elderly. Engineers, architects, and designers are increasingly involved in the design and assessment of residential living environments for elderly persons. These designs should consider the fundamental principles and techniques of human factors to make certain that residential settings enhance independence and overall quality of life for the independent-living elderly. One way to help designers with this task is to develop a design guidelines handbook. However, to ensure designs are appropriate for the elderly, a prerequisite must be that guidelines are based on sound human factors principles. Creating a design guidelines handbook based in science requires a significant amount of work, in terms of understanding the aging process, developing guidelines, and validating the applicability of the guidelines. Therefore, developing these guideline sets and compiling into a handbook is outside the scope of this thesis. The role of this thesis is to bridge the gap between calling for the development and actually creating the handbook. Specifically, this thesis presents a model to categorize and analyze existing guidelines through use of a research matrix. The matrix provides a human factors based context to view existing work and highlights areas for additional research. This thesis also proposes the expansion of this matrix to be used as a framework for a future handbook. In addition to the above research matrix, a guidelines development methodology is proposed. The methodology is a process that focuses on developing guidelines based on human factors principles. After presenting the case for developing a guidelines handbook, and proposing a methodology to do so, a rationale to implement a handbook is described. This rationale concludes that the injury rates experienced by the elderly may, in some cases, be substantially reduced, by developing designs that accommodate the decreased functional abilities of the elderly. Developing human factors based guidelines and a handbook might ultimately help designers with this task.