Engineering Design Research Plan

**When working through this document, complete ALL Action Steps.  Keep all underlined bold headings. Delete all instructions after you complete each section.**

Title

Name(s):

Grade:

School:

County:

Working Title

Your title should identify your topic and general plan. (It doesn’t have to be your final title.)

Action Step:

1. Write your title.
   

Engineering Design Statement 

Your Engineering Design Statement should include what problem you plan to solve, why this problem needs to be solved, and who will be impacted by solving the problem.  

Action Steps:

1. Write your Engineering Design Statement using the format below:

___(who)___needs___(what)___because ___(why)___ 

1. Describe your Engineering Design Statement in detail. (expand on the who, what, and why to provide context)
   

Background Research

Think of the background research section as if you were writing a report on your subject. Give enough relevant information and organize it logically so that when the audience reads your hypothesis at the end of the section, they’ll think, “Oh, that makes sense”. 

Action Steps:

1. Write up to 5 pages, double spaced.    
   
2. Use at least 5 references in APA or MLA-style formatting for in-text citations and references. 
   
3. Cite sources of any photos, diagrams, tables or graphs used.  Products related to your design are appropriate to reference.
   
4. Pay attention to engineering, technical design, or journal articles in your topic area to see how they’re written.
   

1st paragraph:

Engineering design projects are often targeted at improving efficiency: a better way to do something to save cost, save time, make something easier for your customer, or reduce complications. 

Action Steps:

A good explanation here serves two purposes: it informs the reader who might not know as much about the subject as you do, and it shows an expert that you have done the necessary work to understand the topic.

Example: Currently, the presence of noise pollution has become a rising concern amidst rapid urbanization and machine usage. Generally defined as a regular exposure to elevated sound levels as a result of human activity, noise pollution has been shown to present adverse effects on humans, including stress, high blood pressure, speech interference, unhealthy sleep, and loss in productivity (Clean Air Act Title IV – Noise Pollution, 2021). The unwanted sounds produced by human activity can also have disturbing effects on the natural environment, such as how excessive noise levels in natural environments have reduced pollination and seed dispersion due to increased aerial distraction caused by noise. Consequences such as these present as a concern for the environment considering noise pollution effects 63% of protected areas on the United States (Colorado State University, 2017)

Middle paragraph:  

This is the bulk of your background research.  Try to set it up logically to lead your reader to see how your design idea fits into the big picture while giving them enough information to understand your study.  Be sure to tie the different pieces together to make a single story.

Action Steps:

Last paragraph:  

Close the research section with a summary paragraph. 

Action Steps:

3. Re-state your engineering design problem. 
4. Summarize your solution/design idea.
5. Summarize the main pieces of research that support your design plan.

Example: The overall objective of this project was to design propellers with fringed trailing edges inspired by owl flight to effectively reduce acoustic noise produced from drones. To satisfy this overall objective, the modified propellers must have met the following design and engineering criteria and further objectives: 1. Reduce noise – The primary objective of this research was to reduce the noise produced by propellers using biomimetic designs; to sight a statistically significant reduction of noise of the modified design to the control design. 2. Improve aerodynamic performance – The secondary objective of this research was to improve the thrust efficiency of propellers; based on predictions and observations previously studied (aforementioned), the modifications were expected to alter the aerodynamic performance of the propeller due to increased lift. Additional objective: Determine in-group significant differences (between modified propellers); compare dual-modifications as opposed to one modification (ie. Leading-edge serration only)

Prototype Design:

Action Steps:

3. Insert the drawing of your prototype design here (should include labels)
4. Explain why you chose this design for your prototype.
5. Explain what it should be able to do and how the components work together.

Methods and Materials

It is very important to think through the design of your prototype by listing the materials and procedure so you could give someone else this information and he/she could replicate your prototype.  You should also consider what data you will collect and how you plan to analyze the data.

Materials:

Most engineering design is iterative- you will improve the design and retest based on what you learn from earlier tests. While you won’t know exactly how this will go until you try it, you can describe how you will build an initial prototype, test it, and analyze the data before making improvements.  Often designs are tested in smaller parts- you may test different pieces separately before putting them together and testing (this is often the best approach if your design allows it). Software development is especially well-suited to this approach.  

Action Step:

Procedure:

Action Step:

1. List the step-by-step procedure for constructing your prototype.
   

1. Identify any potential risks and safety precautions needed. 

Data Collection and Analysis:

Action Steps:

1. Explain how you will collect your data, including what measurements will be made and what calculations will be performed before making any changes/improvements.
   

1. State the number of trials as (N = number). 
   

1. State any statistical tests you will use to analyze your data. 
   

1. Describe how you will interpret the results to understand the effectiveness of your design and guide improvements.
   

References

Action Step:

1. Use APA or MLA-style formatting for your reference list and in-text citations.
   

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Examples:

US EPA. (2021, August 12) Clean Air Act Title IV - Noise Pollution. https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-actoverview/clean-air-act-title-iv-noise-pollution

Colorado State University. (2017). Noise created by humans is pervasive in US protected areas. Science Daily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170504161513.htm